The Awakening
by Ticklesivory
Summary: Obidala. ObiWan and his friends begin to question the reasoning behind the restrictions outlined in the Jedi Code. Warnings for adult situations and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"No shit?"

"No shit." Replied Garen Muln, one of Obi-Wan Kenobi's best friends, and as everyone in the Jedi Temple knew, the most reliable source for the latest Jedi gossip.

The older padawan, all of eighteen years of age, and the first to achieve Senior status, leaned over the commissary table and drew his three friends in to listen.

"It wasn't about wealth or anything like that. Xanatos just figured it all out, and when he did, the council banished him."

Obi-Wan looked at the padawan carefully. He and Garen had been friends since he was three years old and in the creche, and that was fourteen years ago. However, what the older Jedi apprentice was telling him just didn't feel right, and it wasn't the story that his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn had told him.

Xanatos had been Qui-Gon's second apprentice, and after a mission to Telos had gone bad, and Xanatos' own father had been killed, the young man had denounced the Jedi Order and left the Temple, blaming Qui-Gon for his father's death.

It was the story that Obi-Wan had believed for years, and so he thought of several questions to ask to test this new theory.

"Okay." The younger man whispered across the table. "What you're saying is that the council has been altering our…desires." Obi-Wan waved his hand for lack of a better word. "But how?"

"That's where Xanatos succeeded and we've failed!" Garen responded dramatically, catching a few curious glances from passing knights, who were surprised to hear the name of the rebellious Jedi supposedly gone to the Dark Side.

Garen lowered his voice in response and looked to Obi-Wan, Reeft, and Bant. "Somehow, they're suppressing our natural hormones. You know, the ones that control libido. Our sex drive."

"Garen!" Bant Eerin, a Mon Calamarian, the youngest of the group replied, her salmon-colored skin turning a slightly deeper shade.

"Where did you get this information?" Obi-Wan asked suspiciously. He had wandered into the restricted Temple archives once out of curiosity, but any records regarding reproduction or the act of sexual intercourse were prohibited to padawans. And then Master Nu discovered him there and drug him out by his ear, taking him straight to his Master.

"During my last mission I accessed a terminal that was hooked up to the Galactic Holonet. Not the same one we have here in the Temple. This was completely different. There were even pictures." Garen stated with raised brows.

"Of what?" Reeft asked naively, and Obi-Wan glared at him as if the stocky Dresslian had no sense at all. 

"Naked beings." Garen shot back.

"So?" Bant mocked. "I see pictures of naked beings in my anatomy texts all the time."

"Not in the positions these were in." The informative padawan pointed out, staring at a confused Reeft and choosing to answer his friend's next question before he even had a chance to ask it.

"Sex Reeft. They were having sex! And it looked like they were having a good time." He added. "This one holovid I was watching, the female was moaning and screaming." 

"That doesn't sound like a good time to me." Bant replied, blushing furiously.

"It wasn't like that." Garen explained. "She was thrashing around on the bed and this guy with this huge penis was on top her really going at it."

All three of the other padawans gaped at Garen in stunned silence. 

"They were procreating." Bant suggested. She had studied the science of reproduction in some of her classes, although she had never actually witnessed it before.

"I don't think so."

"How can you know for sure?" Obi-Wan argued. 

"Because." Garen, who rarely embarrassed himself, blushed freely. "Another guy joined in. They were both sticking their…things in her at the same time! And she didn't seem to mind at all! She had her legs all up in the air and she was grunting and screaming words like – fuck me, fuck me!"

"Fuck me?" Reeft repeated. "What does that mean?"

The other padawans looked to the Senior one for an answer.

"I looked it up. It means performing the act of sexual procreation for pleasure." 

"Pleasure?" Obi-Wan repeated, shocked as those seated with him and the trio quickly returned their attention to their meals. The word had caught the ear of a few Masters seated nearby and the conversation ended abruptly. The pursuit of pleasure, passion, and sex were all paths to the Dark Side.

Since the creche, the Jedi were taught to control their emotions, inhibiting any such desires. And only once had Obi-Wan had the nerve to question his Master about it. These restrictions were outlined in the Jedi Code, a copy of which hung over every padawan's bed. But it was only once he had asked, because after sitting through one of Qui-Gon's two-hour lectures on the dangers of losing control of one's emotions and releasing one's inhibitions, Obi-Wan decided it was better to keep his questions to himself. Now, however, it seemed as if he had another source of information.

Padawan Muln had turned eighteen several months ago and immediately began going on missions with his Master. All that Obi-Wan and his other friends knew about was life inside the Temple walls. Occasionally they would be allowed a pass, which they used to visit one of Coruscant's many museums or art galleries.

The quartet of padawans finished their meals without another word and left the dining hall discreetly, but once they were outside of earshot of their superiors, they once more huddled together a ways down the hall.

"You'll see, Kenobi." Garen said. "You're next to be Senior. Once you start going out, you'll see that there's more out there than you ever imagined. You have no idea."

"I know exactly what's out there." The padawan argued, his other friends nodding their heads in agreement. They had all passed their galactic geography and sociology classes.

Garen laughed cynically. "No. You don't. The Council and our Masters have been sheltering us, brainwashing us. Manipulating our minds."

"Garen. That's blasphemy!" Bant responded. "It's the Council and the Masters' duty to protect us!"

"I'm not talking about protection!" Garen argued, but after noticing the baffled expressions on his friends' faces, he gave up his debate. "Fine." He declared. "When's our next pass?"

Reeft flipped on his datapad. "Next ten."

"All right. The next time you all are allowed to leave the Temple, we'll say we're going to the theater, but in fact I'm taking you all some place else. It's about time you see what you've been missing." Garen smiled smugly as a club came to mind. The last pilot who had delivered he and his Master back to the Temple had told him about it, and as he remembered the pilot's description of the place, Garen's smile turned wicked. Were his friends in for a surprise.

However, Bant was one who did not seem pleased with the idea.

"I'm not going."

"Aw, come on Bant!" It was Obi-Wan who argued with her, and although he had no idea what they were getting themselves into, he trusted his friend Garen, and besides, they had always stuck together.

"No, Obi-Wan." She replied adamantly. "Sorry Garen. I'll see you all later."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two **

Twelve days later, two unsuspecting padawans followed their more experienced leader through the doorway of what appeared to be some type of recreational facility. But unlike the calming and tranquil music of the Temple that they were used to hearing, Obi-Wan was somewhat startled at the raucous atmosphere. The music had a driving beat to it and it seemed as if the lighting in the place was synchronized to flash with its rhythm.

He and Reeft, who was wearing the same surprised look as him, followed Garen to a refreshment center and were promptly handed two vials containing a bright blue liquid.

"To long-legged females and one-night stands." The older apprentice quipped, repeating the toast he had once heard a Corellian pirate say, laughing as Obi-Wan peered at him warily. "Drink up!"

They all three did at the same time. The stuff didn't taste bad, Obi-Wan noted. It had a fruity flavor to it, but when it slid down his throat and hit his stomach, it burned and Obi-Wan began coughing. Garen merely smiled and ordered them another. They took the next round to a table and sat down. 

Outside the seating area, down a few steps was a small arena where couples appeared to be dancing, although it didn't look like any of the pictures he had seen. Their bodies were too close together. At one point, this particular young man appeared to be performing a sexual act right in front of them, thrusting his hips into a gyrating female from behind.

Obi-Wan turned his head in embarrassment, noting how the colors of the lights seemed to smear across his vision. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Garen leaned toward him. "How you doin'?" The senior padawan yelled over the music.

"I'm a little dizzy." Obi-Wan answered back, watching with concern at Reeft who had focused his eyes on one of the flashing lights, obviously mesmerized by it.

"That's the alcohol getting into your bloodstream."

The junior padawan stared into the blue liquid and then up at Garen. "I'm inebriated?"

"Not yet." His friend smiled, swatting Reeft on the arm to draw his attention away from the flickering lights.

Obi-Wan sipped more slowly at his drink. He'd never been intoxicated before. What the hell was he thinking? He'd never even drank an intoxicating beverage before!

As the concoction swirled through his belly and warmed his body, he wasn't sure he liked the feeling. He definitely was sure he didn't like what happened next.

An attractive girl with short blonde hair and an even shorter skirt walked right up to his table and bent over to where her barely-concealed ample breasts were dangling in his face. 

"Hey handsome." She purred. "Haven't seen you in here before. Do you wanna dance?"

"Uhm, no. No thank you." Obi-Wan replied as politely as he could, but his manners apparently had no effect on the young voluptuous woman, as her hands boldly and abruptly swept up his legs and under the tunic that covered his lap. And as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear, the young man could feel one of her hands fondling his testicles.

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Following the strange confrontation, the petite blonde walked away, swaying her hips in a suggestive manner, but her ploys had been unsuccessful. 

With a confused expression, Obi-Wan turned to look at his friends. Garen was wearing a huge smile, while Reeft was guzzling down his third drink, apparently oblivious to what had just occurred. 

"What was that all about?"

"That was an invitation, my friend." Garen explained.

Obi-Wan's brows rose high. That certainly was the most friendly invitation he'd ever been offered. It seemed a little bold to him. Were all non-Jedi females so forward?

Garen laughed at the obvious questions in his friend's eyes before he explained. "She's an employee here. It's her job to keep the patrons happy. Let me ask you this." Obi-Wan's friend continued, speaking loudly enough for him to hear. "When she was all over you, did it make you happy?"

The younger padawan thought for a moment and then answered truthfully. "I was stunned and a little embarrassed, actually."

"Okay." Garen acknowledged, scanning the club and smiling when he found what he was looking for. "Tell me if that guy over there looks happy." 

Both Reeft and Obi-Wan followed Garen's line of sight to a darkened corner beyond the dance floor where a couple was obviously copulating. The male had the female up against the wall, driving into her from behind. It wasn't a dance, Obi-Wan realized, his mouth widening. They were actually mating right there in front of everyone. He could see the pale skin of the woman's bare buttocks flash in the lighting.

The Jedi apprentice took a good look at the young woman. She had short blonde hair just like the one who had put her hands so intimately upon him, but it wasn't the same girl. 

And neither was the girl who had her face buried in the crotch of another customer in a booth just opposite of them.

Now that Obi-Wan realized what was going on, all over the establishment he could see pairs and sometimes groups of three or more together, doing things that he couldn't understand or comprehend.

But Garen was right. The woman and their customers looked like they were having a good time.

However, he was extremely uncomfortable, and so was Reeft, who apparently didn't want to watch and had laid his head down on the table.

"Reeft?" Obi-Wan asked as he shook his friend's shoulder.

"He's fine." Garen said after he checked on their agemate. "Too much to drink for a first time. We'll wait a while and then try to rouse him."

"I don't want to wait a while. I want to leave." Obi-Wan declared. 

"Why?" Garen asked pointedly. "Does this type of atmosphere bother you?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why?"

The younger padawan frowned, trying to ignore the sultry lyrics of the music and the occasional moan or scream that accompanied it.

"Because this isn't right." He finally decided.

"Do you sense any darkness here?"

Obi-Wan paused, sending out his senses into the Force and then reluctantly answered Garen's question. "No."

"Think about that a minute." Garen replied. "This is how the galaxy is, Kenobi. Outside of the Temple. This is the natural way of things. Sex, lust, passion. They're natural occurrences of every society, of every being in the galaxy. Why is that? And why is it that not one of us has an erection right now?"

Obi-Wan looked in amazement at his friend, one for his frankness, and two for his bravery. Garen had always been the one to take risks and make new discoveries.

"What the Council and the Masters are doing to us is what's unnatural. That's what's wrong. And we have to figure it out and stop it." 

"Why?" Obi-Wan argued. "Why do we have to figure it out, Garen? Why can't we just leave it alone?"

"Because!" Arms flailed out in aggravation. "Because they're hiding something from us! They're manipulating our bodies and our minds, and they didn't ask my permission! Did they ask you for yours?" 

"No, but that's what being a Jedi is about!" Obi-Wan shot back. "We're supposed to be different from everyone else." 

Garen sat solemnly for a while and the words he spoke sent a chill down Obi-Wan's spine.

"Well then, maybe I don't want to be a Jedi."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three **

Somehow the two young men managed to get their friend, Reeft, back into the Temple and to his room, and then Obi-Wan returned to his own, slowing his steps when he realized his Master was waiting up for him.

The junior padawan took a deep breath and entered the apartment. He had many questions that he wanted to ask, but didn't know how, and tonight wouldn't probably be the best time, he decided. Qui-Gon would surely smell the alcohol on his breath, and although drinking wasn't forbidden, the place where he had gotten drunk at most certainly was. It was also in the lower levels of Coruscant, which were restricted to padawans.

What had he been thinking when he agreed to go out with Garen?

"Have a pleasant evening?" His Master asked as Obi-Wan hung up his cloak. 

"Yes, Master."

"How was the theater?" 

"Fine, Master."

Qui-Gon eyed his apprentice carefully and Obi-Wan cringed. He had never lied to his Master before, and he was sure he wasn't good at it. However, thankfully, no more questions followed, and after a curt 'good night Obi-Wan,' the padawan hurried to the 'fresher to shower and then hopped into bed, although sleep was a long time coming.

It wasn't that he felt like he was missing out on anything, but like Garen, he didn't like the idea of not having a choice. If the council and his Master were actually controlling his natural urges somehow, without him knowing about it, Obi-Wan considered that an invasion of his privacy.

But how was it being done?

The young man lay in his bed looking out the window and at the passing Coruscant air traffic. Maybe during meditation, he decided.

Each morning, he and Qui-Gon meditated together. They always had, and Obi-Wan had always instinctively lowered his shields and allowed his Master access to his mind. Complete access. Obi-Wan never had anything to hide.

That is, until tonight.

Well, tomorrow morning's meditations will be different, he decided with a yawn. Obi-Wan would keep part of his mind shut off from his Master, and for once, keep some things to himself.

"Padawan? Are you feeling all right?"

Once Obi-Wan had emerged from his meditation, he was met with a concerned blue gaze.

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan replied. He had a bit of a headache this morning, but that was all, surprisingly.

However, Qui-Gon didn't look convinced.

"After you've eaten, I want you to go to the Healers."

"Master, that won't be necess…." The word hung incomplete in the air as a stern glare locked onto him. "Yes, Master."

When Qui-Gon arrived in the Master's Lounge where he met his best friend, Mace Windu for tea every morning he was on planet, a scowl was firmly implanted on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Mace asked as he filled Qui-Gon's favorite mug, placing it before him on the low table between them.

"Obi-Wan shielded against me this morning."

Eyebrows that would have risen to the council member's hairline, if he indeed had any hair, merely furrowed Mace's forehead. "Is that so? Do you have any idea why?"

"I have my suspicions." Qui-Gon began. "I think he may have been ill when he came home last night. He looked terrible. I sent him to the Healers this morning."

Now, just one eyebrow cocked as the Jedi Councilman looked at his friend warily. "Did he say where he'd gone?"

"Out with some friends to the theater. Garen Muln and that other boy. What's-his-name." Qui-Gon snapped his fingers, trying to conjure up the word.

"Reeft." Mace supplied for him.

"Yes. How did you know?"

A concerned expression now appeared Windu's face. "Because Reeft's Master sent him to the Healers in the middle of the night. He was vomiting."

"Some type of intestinal virus going around?" Qui-Gon asked naively as he lifted his tea to his lips.

"Hung over's more like it." 

The mug in Qui-Gon's hand was immediately lowered back down to the table with a thud, the older Jedi's jaw slackening in shock. He didn't know what to say. Obi-Wan had never lied to him before. 

"I suggest you trust your suspicions, old friend. We don't want to lose Obi-Wan like we lost…." Mace stopped his sentence at the glare he was receiving. There was no need to mention names. Qui-Gon knew better than anyone about the early signs of Xanatos' downfall, and he knew his friend would do whatever he had to in order to protect his current padawan. "Sorry, but you need to find out what's going on, Qui-Gon, and put a stop to it immediately."

"I know, and I will." The Jedi Master answered confidently, although his insides were quivering with panic. If he lost Obi-Wan like he had lost Xanatos, he would never forgive himself.

When Obi-Wan returned from his classes that afternoon, Qui-Gon was waiting for him in the common room, his face alarmingly stoic. That look only meant one thing. His Master was struggling to control some type of strong emotion.

"I spoke to Reeft's Master today." 

Obi-Wan's stomach flip flopped.

"Oh? How is Master Ibes?"

"Would you like to tell me again where the three of you went last night?"

Obi-Wan swallowed down the lunch that was attempting to climb back up his throat.

"I told you, Master, we went to…"

But before Obi-Wan could repeat the lie, Qui-Gon shot out a large hand, open palm, and on its center sat a business card with the name of the club they had visited embossed upon it, and a handwritten comm number written on it. 

Sith! That employee who had fondled him last night must have slipped it into his pocket!

Obi-Wan's brain worked frantically for an explanation – any explanation, until Qui-Gon rose up from his seat and then rose to his most formidable height, towering over the smaller Jedi. "Be careful, padawan." He warned, and Obi-Wan gulped.

"Garen thought it would be fun if we…"

"Garen Muln, I might've known." Qui-Gon cut in, now pacing about the common room space.

"He just wanted to show us a good time." Obi-Wan defended.

"He got you drunk!"

"I did that myself, Master, and I wasn't drunk. I was just….tipsy. Reeft was the one that was drunk. For somebody so stout, you wouldn't think that just after three…." Obi-Wan stopped stammering when he noticed the intense gaze being shot his way.

"This isn't a joke, padawan. You disobeyed the Code and you lied to me!"

"I know. I'm sorry, Master. I didn't mean to deceive you, but no harm was done, and I promise the next time we go out…."

"Oh, there will be no next time, padawan." Qui-Gon interrupted, his long arms folded across his chest and Obi-Wan's brows etched inward.

"I forbid you to see Garen Muln and Padawan Reeft ever again."

"What?" Obi-Wan said, stunned at Qui-Gon's outrageous decision. "You can't do that!"

"I most certainly can, Obi-Wan. I'm your Master."

Anger rolled inside the young apprentice at the obvious misuse of Qui-Gon's authority, and for the first time in his life, he was filled with spite.

"You're not my Master….You're….You're a sith!" He yelled out in anger, not noticing the hurt look that appeared on the older man's face.

"Go to your room." Qui-Gon's voice was lower than Obi-Wan had ever heard it. It was almost a growl, and the padawan could not stop the shiver that resulted from the command and also from the weight of his piercing blue eyes. And even though, Obi-Wan realized this argument was far from over, for the time being, he obeyed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

Some time before dawn, a timid knock sounded upon Obi-Wan's door. If he hadn't been awake already, he might not have heard it, but he was awake. Had been for hours. And upon seeing his Master's face in the half-energy glowlight of his room, he realized the older man hadn't slept very well either.

"Obi-Wan, I wanted to apologize."

"No, Master. I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have called you a sith. And…" the young Jedi paused as he sat up in his bed. "I shouldn't have let Garen talk me into going to the lower levels."

"I concur." Qui-Gon said with a small smile. "However, I'm afraid your actions still require discipline, padawan."

Obi-Wan grimaced. His Master was a little more stern than his friends' when it came to punishment, and he wondered what it was going to be. The time that Master Nu had caught him snooping in the restricted archives, he had to wax the Council Room floor, by hand, with a tiny flexi-swab. It had nearly taken him three days to complete, and afterward, he was more sore than any extra sets of katas could have made him.

"I'm not going to banish you from your friends, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon continued. "Although I do hope that in the future, you will use better judgment. However, your passes will be revoked for the next three months."

Obi-Wan bit back his protest. Three months seemed excessive, but at least he would get to see his agemates again.

He gathered with his friends that morning after their classes in the north passage study hall.

"I see you still have your head, Kenobi." Reeft noted. "We were sure your Master was going to bite it off. So how bad was it?"

"Three months, no leave." Obi-Wan answered, opening his study pad and laying it on the table.

"I've got archive duty for two weeks." Reeft noted with a frown as Obi-Wan and Bant exchanged looks. Working underneath the extreme perfectionism of Master Nu was punishment enough, but for two weeks? In Obi-Wan's opinion, Reeft's punishment was far worse than his.

Bant opened up her Outer-Rim anatomy datapad and turned her attention to it while she shook her amphibious head. Too kind to say "I tried to warn you," she thought they both deserved what they got. But still, she was worried that her friends hadn't exactly learned their lesson, and her worry only increased as the cause for their punishment strode into the hall.

"Hey my juniorwans!" Garen quipped happily, but was met with three rather gloomy countenances.

"Hey Garen." Replied Reeft who immediately began working on his astronavigation assignment.

"What's with all the long faces? Sorry T'Lora, no pun intended." The Senior Padawan noted to a nearby Ithorian male. Bant rolled her eyes at the joke, which was nearly as old as the Temple itself.

"We got caught." Obi-Wan announced quietly.

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"What was the sentence?"

"Three months no leave for me, archive duty for Reeft."

"Oooo." Garen replied, patting the Dressellian on the shoulder. "Sorry about that Reeft. And I'm sorry for you too, Obi-Wan."

The trio of padawans continued to ignore the meddlesome Senior, Garen's agitation growing until he suddenly felt as if he would burst. 

"Force!" He cried out. "This is really rank, Kenobi! How are we supposed to have any fun if you're stuck in the Temple?" 

"Looks like you're going to have to wait, Muln." Obi-Wan replied as Bant shushed them both.

"I can't." Garen argued more quietly. "My master and I are going on a mission to the Rim next week! We'll be gone at least six months, if not longer."

"So?" Obi-Wan shot back before realizing how rude he had sounded, and he immediately apologized. "Sorry Garen." He responded with a squeeze to his friend's forearm. "But I can't leave the Temple anyway, so how are going to have any fun?"

A slow, spreading grin appeared on the older padawan's face before he answered. "Well then, it sounds like we'll need to bring the fun to you." 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five **

The padawan training sallé that afternoon had started out being rather crowded, with the Junior Level Lightsaber Competitions coming up soon, but by the time that Obi-Wan had finished his work-out, most of the padawans had dispersed, leaving only he and Garen and a couple of others he didn't know on the floor.

Obi-Wan typically worked out with Reeft, but whenever Garen was on-planet, they tended to pair up, seeing how that they both fought in the same style, and often challenged one another. Reeft and Bant had left nearly an hour earlier, having exhausted themselves, and Obi-Wan too was beginning to wear down, but he wasn't about to concede their current match, no matter how much his muscles were protesting.

After a high vault, angling to the right and ricocheting himself off the nearby sallé wall, Obi-Wan landed on the opposite side of his opponent, surprising Garen by the sudden burst of energy, his 'saber being caught in a swift downstroke upon Obi-Wan's landing, and the older padawan's weapon went clattering across the floor.

"Well done, Obi-Wan." The senior huffed, out of breath. "You'll for sure win the competition this year. Now that I'm out of it." He joked and Obi-Wan laughed with him.

Both young men grabbed their cloaks and headed toward the communal showers.

Obi-Wan stood under the hot spray for a while, allowing the heat and power of the water jets to soothe his aching muscles and joints, thinking about what Garen had said earlier that day.

What did his friend have in mind for him? He had always trusted Garen, but after their last escapade into the lower levels, he wasn't so sure that the older boy was very reliable. He was sure he meant well, but since becoming a Senior Padawan, it seemed that Garen had forgotten that the rest of his friends lived under a different set of rules than he did. They still had curfews and studies to attend to, and were restricted to certain areas, not only in the Temple, but outside of it as well. Breaking those rules meant severe punishment, and a continuing neglect of those rules could mean possible reduction in status or even banishment. As in Xanatos' case apparently.

The more Obi-Wan had thought about what Garen had told him about Xanatos, the more it made sense. 

What if Xanatos had discovered what the council and the masters were up to? What if he had defied them? Master Yoda would not hesitate in sending the padawan away. And what he had heard about Xanatos, Obi-Wan knew that the former Jedi was too proud to be demoted. He certainly would have left before that would've occurred.

But what was it that Xanatos had discovered? What was this power that the council and the masters held over their padawans? Was Qui-Gon actually controlling his mind? Inhibiting his natural urges?

He wouldn't like to think so, but in light of his Master's recent over-reaction to his disobedience, Obi-Wan figured something was up. Maybe. Just maybe he had hit close to the mark. And it had all started after meditations.

Qui-Gon had to have been aware that he had been shielded.

"Garen?" Obi-Wan said over the frosted glass partition between he and his friend's shower stall.

"Yea?"

"I think I may have discovered something. Something about how the Masters may be controlling us."

Immediately, Garen's shower was stopped and the older boy appeared from around the corner. Obi-Wan turned to face him, modesty not being one of his personality traits.

"What? What did you figure out?" Garen asked, appearing quite eager. 

"Yesterday morning during meditation, I shielded my Master from my thoughts."

At Garen's raised brows of surprise, Obi-Wan hurried on. "I had to. I didn't want him discovering where we had gone the other night. Not that it mattered." The younger padawan added, mumbling.

"And?"

"And nothing. I just didn't allow him access to my mind. I locked the memories of going to the club away."

"Did he realize what you were doing?"

"I didn't think so at first." Obi-Wan answered, sweeping back his spiked wet hair. "But now that I think about, he must have. He's been acting pretty strange ever since. Kinda like he's nervous or something."

"That must be it then. You've got him worried." Garen replied, rubbing his chin in concentration.

"But how do we know if that's it? If that's how they're controlling us?"

"You've got to keep it up. Just one time isn't going to matter." Garen pointed out after much thought. "Shield him for three more days . I'll do the same and we'll have Reeft do it as well."

The idea made Obi-Wan uncomfortable. He had always enjoyed his morning meditations with his Master. For four years he had opened his mind to Qui-Gon, freely and without reservation. To not do so now, seemed like a betrayal of sorts.

Garen, obviously recognized his hesitation.

"Come on, Obi. We know this is the only way to figure out what's going on. Why they're finding the need to control us. Remember, they're brainwashing us, and it's just not right."

Garen grabbed a towel from the stack on the shelves behind him and began to dry off, scrubbing his reddish-brown hair, which was growing rapidly out of his junior padawan buzz cut. "Three days, and then we'll get together and try a little experiment." 

"All right." Obi-Wan agreed finally, but still, he was a little hesitant in his decision.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six **

The next three days could not have passed quickly enough for Obi-Wan. Each morning, during he and Qui-Gon's ritual meditations, he could feel his Master probing against his mind, and then afterward, he could feel his Master's eyes upon his back. Whenever Obi-Wan would turn around, Qui-Gon would remove his focus, but the apprentice knew that he was being stared at.

It was discomfiting and he wanted it to stop.

But not nearly as uncomfortable as when he thought about what Garen possibly had up his sleeve for this little 'experiment' he had planned for them. 

They were to meet in a rarely used storage facility located in the lower levels of the Temple. Typically used for a holding room for broken training probes, boxes of used tunics and old datapads, it was a dark and musty place.

Not exactly where he would consider a fun place to hang out, even though Garen had promised that they were going to have a good time.

Obi-Wan entered the space warily. They had decided to split up and sneak down one at a time, and the padawan was a bit despondent to discover he was the first one there. He waited a few minutes and was about to leave when Garen showed up, carrying what looked like a holovid player.

Reeft was the next to show up, pulling a bag of dehydrated nerf sticks from his robe.

"Reeft, what are you doing?" Garen jokingly asked his friend.

"It's two hours until dinner! I'm starved!" The chubby padawan announced as he bit into one of the meaty pieces.

"Hey, where's Bant?"

"She didn't want to come." Obi-Wan told Garen. The Mon Calamari had been leery of them ever since Garen had arrived back on the planet, and although she hadn't exactly warned Obi-Wan to be careful, he knew that she wanted to.

"Her loss." Garen announced smugly, setting up the monitor on top of a stack of boxes and pulling over several single boxes for the three of them to sit upon. 

"What's this?" Reeft asked, pointing his hand to the screen.

"This is our experiment." Garen announced. "You've all been shielding, right?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan answered reluctantly.

"I think so." Reeft answered. "I don't have much practice at that though."

"Well, at least you tried." Garen rolled his eyes. Juniors. They sure had a lot to learn.

The older padawan turned on the holovid and hit the play button. As soon as the introductory title appeared on the screen, Obi-Wan opened his mouth in shock.

"What the hell? 'May the Foreskin Be With You?' Garen! What is this?"

"It's a porn vid." The senior padawan answered nonchalantly to Obi-Wan's shocked amazement and Reeft's intrigue.

"Where did you get it?"

"From that pilot I told you about." The senior padawan replied, reaching over to grab a piece of Reeft's dehydrated nerf.

Soon, the screen revealed someone who appeared to be a Jedi, although the tunics were a color of brown they would never wear, and his boots were in no way customized as theirs were. The actor had long hair tied back in the middle and was tall. He reminded Obi-Wan of someone.

And then the actor introduced himself to this scantily clad Twi'Lek who was waiting tables in a bar he had entered and Obi-Wan's mouth dropped open even further as Reeft began chuckling.

"Holy shit. Qui-Dong Jinn? That's supposed to be my Master?"

"Kinda looks like him, dontcha think?" Garen asked curiously as he cocked his head while staring at the image on the screen.

The character in the movie wasted very little time in approaching the all-too-willing bartender and soon had the female bent over one of the tables in the bar, releasing his enormous penis, and Obi-Wan gulped.

"Not exactly." The apprentice noted. He had seen Qui-Gon in the 'fresher before, and although his Master had nothing to be ashamed of, there was an obvious reason why this actor worked in the porn industry.

All three padawans leaned forward to closely observe the action on the screen.

"Is that supposed to fit? How can that fit?" Reeft asked, between chuckles. "It's too big. There's no way." 

But there was apparently a way. All of the man's organ slipped easily inside of the screaming Twi'Lek and the actor began pumping in and out of her in a rapid succession while her hands massaged the large green breasts she had freed from her flimsy top. 

Aside from astonishment, Obi-Wan felt nothing but a little embarrassed, and he told Garen as much when he asked.

"Nothing? You don't feel a thing?"

"What am I supposed to feel?" He asked the older padawan.

"Excited, aroused. Your penis is supposed to fill with blood. It's called an erection, Obi-Wan." Garen quipped sarcastically.

"I know what an erection is." Obi-Wan replied, annoyed.

"Then let's try another scene." 

Garen immediately entered the time on the vid counter and Obi-Wan punched his friend's arm.

"How many times have you watched this?"

"A few." Garen admitted with a smirk. "Now. Here's a good part."

The actor playing the part of his Master was ramming his penis into a different girl now. She looked Falleen from what Obi-Wan could tell, while a different Twi'Lek kissed the female lying down and played with her breasts. Soon, the male actor threw his head back and let out a loud yell, slamming into the Falleen hard while the Twi'Lek began to play with the other female's genitalia.

"Now." Garen said. "Take out your penises."

"What?" Obi-Wan asked aghast.

"Just do it." The older padawan admonished. "Watch the screen and run your hand back and forth over your dick, like this."

Garen proceeded to massage his organ and Obi-Wan and Reeft gradually complied, although not with as much enthusiasm.

But nothing happened.

Soon, the vid ended with the two females stroking the make-believe Jedi as he watched from the bridge of a starship that lurched into hyperspace.

The credits began to roll, and Obi-Wan replaced his flaccid organ back into his pants.

Garen looked at both of his friends, disappointment clouding his features. 

"It's obviously not meditations." He mumbled, replacing his own limp cock back into his pants.

"Obviously." Obi-Wan grumbled while Reeft began giggling again.

"Looks like we're back to square one."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven **

That evening while dining in the commissary, the three padawans hovered over their meals in a slump. They didn't know what to do next. While Garen was determined, and Reeft was oblivious, Obi-Wan was concerned. They had reached a point now where they just had to figure it out. There was no turning back.

Even though their actions had alienated them from one of the best friends. Bant had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with what she considered their treasonous plans and in fact, had refused to dine with them until they had gotten over their foolhardy pursuit.

But it wasn't foolhardy. They were in search of the truth. And searching for truth was never foolish. His own master had taught him that.

"What can it be?" Garen quizzed as he stabbed into his bantha stew. "There's got to be something that we all do, something we all have in common."

Obi-Wan thought his friend's comment over. They had ruled out meditations, even though it was something every padawan did with their master every morning. No matter where they were.

Frustrated, he too picked up his fork to stab a piece of meat when he stopped the action in mid air. 

Food. That had to be it. Perhaps they were ingesting a substance that inhibited their natural urges. It was the safest and most effective course of administration of a hormone-altering substance. But what did they all eat?

Obi-Wan looked at his plate, Reeft's, and Garen's, and then it hit him.

Tubers. It was a staple of the padawan diet, and it came in various forms. The purple vegetable was mashed, fried, boiled, baked, made into pancakes and put into stews, soups, and probably other dishes they weren't even aware of.

Today, the colorful item was mixed in with the stew.

"Tubers." Obi-Wan said suddenly, confident that he had figured it out.

"Huh?" Garen asked, poking one of the purple vegetables into his mouth, while Reeft happily ate away.

"Tubers!" Obi-Wan repeated. "That's got to be it! It's the one thing that we all eat!"

Garen looked at his plate dubiously and then his face brightened. Even on missions, tubers were packed into his bags. They were freeze-dried and ready to be eaten when boiled with a bit of water. They were claimed to be the most nutrient-rich form of food available, easy to store, fairly easy to prepare, and essential for every growing padawan's diet.

"Tubers." Garen hissed, pushing his plate away. "That's it! It's got to be!"

Reeft, having been too focused on his meal, noted the action and peered at his friend's plate with interest. "Are you going to finish that?" He asked.

"Pay attention Reeft!" Garen scolded him. "It's the tubers! That's got to be it! Look around! Everybody eats them. I've never heard one padawan complain about them."

"You sure?" The Dressellian padawan asked, eyeing his food suspiciously. 

"Definitely." Obi-Wan replied. "This morning, what did we have for first meal?"

His agemates concentrated. 

"Eggs." Reeft replied.

"And?" Obi-Wan prompted.

"Hashed fried tubers." Garen smiled triumphantly.

The three padawans gazed down at their plates. 

"Now what?" Reeft asked after a while when nobody had spoken.

"We have to figure out a way not to eat the stuff." 

"How are we supposed to do that?" Obi-Wan asked. "The Dining Master always checks our trays. You can't leave the commissary until you've finished everything on your plate." 

Garen sat in quiet contemplation again while Reeft mourned over the loss of his meal.

"Then we'll have to get rid of them entirely." He announced after a while.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Obi-Wan asked the older apprentice.

"I don't know, but we'll figure out a way. We have to. This is it. I just know it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight **

Obi-Wan exited his apartment kitchen after washing his and Qui-Gon's evening tea mugs and entered their common room. Immediately upon his appearance, Qui-Gon turned away his gaze, apparently having been staring holes through the wall at his apprentice.

Obi-Wan swallowed his guilt and schooled his features. This was a necessity, even though he was sure he was going to go to the Sith Hells for lying to his Master.

"Master, a few of the padawans are getting together this evening for some extra drills. To practice for the upcoming competition. I'd like to join them, if I may."

Qui-Gon's brow rose suspiciously, but he said nothing, to Obi-Wan's relief. Although his Master had not probed his mind, Qui-Gon was a constant presence there, and Obi-Wan carefully tightened his shields so that his dishonesty wouldn't somehow bleed through.

"Very well, padawan, but don't break curfew."

"Yes, Master."

Obi-Wan grabbed his cloak and headed to the training rooms. Several padawans indeed were practicing this evening, but he didn't stay long. He soon left and headed toward the Temple Galley.

He met Reeft and Garen outside of the kitchens. Garen looked calm. Too calm as a matter of fact, but Reeft made up for it. The Dressellian was tapping his foot nervously against the floor.

"Did you do it?" Obi-Wan asked the senior padawan.

"Yes." Garen explained. "I got into the archives and went in under Master Rhara's name. I contacted the division of Agricorps responsible for sending us the tubers and told them we had an overabundance and to delay the next order until they heard back from the Temple. I changed the Temple contact information just in case. If they do go ahead and send an order, it'll be going to Dagobah instead of here. It should take at least a couple of weeks for them to figure it out."

Well, thought Obi-Wan. When he was dead and burning, at least he'd have company.

The three youth snuck carefully down the hall and into the kitchen. The room was long and narrow with metallic counter tops and a variety of cooking utensils hanging from the ceiling.

It was nearing curfew and no one was about, so the room was completely dark. At least until a shaft of light split the space and Obi-Wan and Garen turned around to catch Reeft searching through one of the cooling units.

"Reeft!" Garen hissed at him as quietly as he could! "Shut the damn door!"

"But I'm hungry! I didn't get to finish third meal!"

"Shut it!" Garen repeated.

Defeated, the starving Dressellian slammed the door shut, much to the annoyance of his friends, who stood deathly still as a robotic whirring sound came from down the hall.

"Security droid!" Obi-Wan whispered in the dark, the approaching red rotating rays glancing off of the durasteel galley doors.

The short, squatty black droid responded to the noise its scanners had picked up and entered the Temple kitchens, sweeping its sensors to and fro across the galley, raising its sensors high above the middle work table and once more sweeping the room.

After a thorough inspection, the sensor array folded in upon itself, lowered back down, and the security droid went about its way.

High above the table, anchored precariously amongst the pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, hung three Jedi padawans, each holding their breath and trying desperately not to create any noise to attract attention. 

Once they were assured the droid had left, they each dropped back down onto the floor and headed toward the store room, where they discovered three huge sacks of tubers.

"How are we supposed to get them all out of here?" Obi-Wan asked, drawing his cloak more tightly about him to ward off the chill of the storage room.

Garen looked at the supplies and then at his friends, and then back to the supplies. They couldn't each carry the bags. That would be too obvious if they were caught. There was only one thing they could do.

The next morning, Qui-Gon Jinn watched his padawan leave their apartment with a skeptical eye. He didn't know what was wrong with his apprentice. Obi-Wan was still shielding from him. Not as tightly as before, but still, he was hiding something.

And he wasn't sure what. Maybe it was just a response of youthful hormones. Qui-Gon remembered acting pretty crazy when he was teenager himself.

The Jedi Master busied himself tidying up the common room and then shrugged as he opened Obi-Wan's bedroom door. He didn't often clean up his apprentice's room, more prone to have Obi-Wan do so himself, but the boy had been busy with preparations for the upcoming 'saber competition, and so Qui-Gon thought that he would give his padawan a hand.

The older man stepped into the room and shook his head at the clutter that was strewn about. Holotexts, datapads, clothing worn days before, and pieces of starship models were everywhere.

He smiled to himself and began with the floor, picking up a variety of dirty laundry, only to stop short when after lifting a pair of pants and tunic, something fell out of them and hit the floor with a thud.

The Jedi Master bent over and picked up the item, inspecting it carefully, his expression turning curious. 

"A tuber?"

The trio of padawans sat themselves down at the commissary table for first meal that morning and looked around carefully. If anyone missed the tubers, they weren't saying so.

Except for maybe Master Yoda.

The Jedi Council member's croaking voice could be heard complaining as far back to where the young padawans were seated.

"No tubers today? Order more you should! Need them, these growing younglings do! Tubers! They do a padawan body good!"

_**A bit of an explanation about what happened to those damn tubers….** _

Several days later, having responded to a call from maintenance who had discovered the reason for the horrific smell that had invaded the Temple, council member Mace Windu and the ancient Jedi Master, Yoda stood over a large hole that had been dug up in the Temple Serenity Garden. They both stood silent, gazing down into its depths, utter shock revealed on their faces.

"Not even the smallest survived." Mace replied quietly.

Yoda bent over to pick up one of the purple objects that had been unable escape its destiny. "Destroyed not by the elements this one was, but by lightsaber."

Master Windu shook his head in despair at the loss. "Who?" He asked no one in particular. "Who could have done this?" 


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine **

During break later that day, Obi-Wan came home to exchange his datapads for his afternoon class ones when he noticed a rather familiar object lying on the dining table. On closer inspection, he discovered to his horror that it was a tuber. Qui-Gon wasn't in and so he quickly threw the thing in the disposal and went to class.

However, he had trouble focusing on his studies. Even though the topic of ancient philosophy of the eastern outer colonies usually fascinated him, he was too worried about why there was a tuber sitting on his dining room table.

Had Qui-Gon found it? Or had someone discovered what they had done and given it to his Master as evidence?

By the time that classes were over and the padawan was heading back to his room, he had worried himself into having a stomachache, and when he entered his quarters and found his Master sitting across from the dining table, he suddenly felt quite nauseous.

"What's the matter, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked in alarm, rising to place a hand on the boy's forehead.

"Nothing, Master." Obi-Wan swatted away his teacher's hand. "I just got a little queasy."

"Maybe you should go lie down." The older Jedi suggested and Obi-Wan released a sigh. Maybe his Master had forgotten all about the rotten vegetable.

But when he opened his door and saw that his room was immaculately clean, the young man knew that something was up. 

"But before you do." Qui-Gon replied to Obi-Wan's back. "Perhaps you can tell me why I found a tuber in your dirty laundry."

Obi-Wan squenched his face together and hissed a silent curse before turning around to face his Master.

"Food fight?" Was the first thing that came to his mind.

"A food fight? I can't believe that Master Obera let you all get away with something like that."

"Uhm." Obi-Wan stammered. Come on, think! He silently pleaded with himself. "She wasn't in the commissary at the time, and things just got of hand. It didn't last very long."

The padawan braved a small smile, although the nauseating feeling was back.

"Huh." Qui-Gon stated, walking over to sit down on their sofa. "Perhaps then, you should check your laundry before you so haphazardly throw it all over your floor. That tuber could've left a stain, padawan. And besides, your room was a complete disaster."

"I like it that way." Obi-Wan defended his property.

"Oh, come on, padawan. Nobody likes to live in filth! I don't want to see your room looking that again."

Now, just wait a minute! There was nothing in the Jedi Code about keeping clean quarters! And besides, what was his Master doing in there in the first place?

"That is my room, Master." Obi-Wan responded, suddenly feeling quite violated. "And I would appreciate if you would stay out of it." 

"If you would clean it once in a while, there would be no reason for my to go in there." Qui-Gon answered back, a twinkle in his dark blue eyes, and Obi-Wan realized he was toying with him, but the padawan wasn't in the mood for it.

"How I keep my own room is my own damn business. I wish you would stay out of it." Obi-Wan shot back before he turned and left their quarters to go to the training rooms where he was meeting Garen.

But behind the door that swished closed on his retreating form sat a rather befuddled Jedi Master. Something was going on. This was more than a hormonal imbalance. His apprentice was frustrated and angry. He had never known Obi-Wan to be so on edge.

And that was exactly what Obi-Wan was. A combination of frustration and agitation distracted him from his concentration and he was thoroughly trounced by his opponent in the sallé, by a second-year padawan, to make things worse.

He hated feeling this way, but there was nothing he could do.

His Master's insistence on invading his privacy by going in his room was the straw that broke the bantha's back.

It all boiled down to control, and the thought of the elders controlling his private urges without his consent was too much.

It was time to put an end to it. He just hoped that it would end soon. Qui-Gon was getting suspicious, and if he knew his Master as well as he thought he did, it wouldn't be long until they both sat down and had one of his not-so-little talks.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten **

Qui-Gon's 'talk' was not as forthcoming as Obi-Wan had initially believed. In fact, four days had gone by and his Master hadn't brought up the subject of the mysterious tuber or his slovenliness again.

But they were running out of time. Garen would be leaving soon to go on his mission and so the older padawan had called for a special gathering in the same storage room as before.

Obi-Wan had tried to find his friend earlier in the day, but his comm said he was unavailable, which made Obi-Wan nervous.

However, when the time came for their get-together, the senior padawan suddenly showed up in the main foyer, smiling and confident.

"I've got somebody to introduce to you two." He announced, motioning for someone to come through the front doors. 

In just a couple of seconds a young female approached. She was dressed in a Jedi uniform, but Obi-Wan had never seen her before. 

"Obi-Wan and Reeft, I would like you to meet Padawan Clitori."

"Hi boys." The attractive humanoid smiled, and Obi-Wan wondered at the amount of make-up she had on. It seemed too much for standard Jedi issued cosmetics.

"She's from the Dantooine Temple." Garen explained. "We met during my last mission."

"I thought you went to Anzat." Reeft argued as Garen grabbed a hold of the girl and ushered them across the room and into the turbolift that would take them down to the storage level.

"We stopped there on the way back." The senior padawan continued.

"Dantooine isn't on the way back from Anzat." Reeft continued to argue, but Obi-Wan kept silent. This girl wasn't a padawan. He knew Garen was lying, but he was just curious enough to wait and find out why.

Once they had made it to the storage room and Garen had switched on the lighting, did Obi-Wan start to get a clue as to what Garen's intentions were, and where he had been all afternoon.

Most of the storage boxes had been cleared away, and in the middle of the space was a cot. It was a single bed, not much bigger than the one in his own quarters, but it would serve a purpose.

"All right." Garen began in a calming voice. "I know you're both wondering what's going on, but I have to leave tomorrow and we have to figure this thing out tonight!"

Both Obi-Wan and Reeft looked at the older padawan skeptically, though Obi-Wan's eyes kept drifting back to the rather attractive dark-haired, petite female who was staring at him.

"This is Clitori. That's her real name, but she's not a Jedi."

"No shit." Obi-Wan said before he could stop himself.

"She's a Galactic City prostitute. I hired her to come here tonight and see if our idea worked. We haven't been eating the tubers for four days now, and that should've been plenty of time for whatever it is to get out of our systems." 

"Force Garen!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, hardly able to believe his ears. He looked at Reeft, but the Dressellian male just appeared stunned. "I can't believe this!"

Obi-Wan bit back any further reply and turned toward the young woman and smiled gently. "Would you excuse us just a minute?"

After their guest had left the room, Obi-Wan shielded the proximity from her hearing and lit into his friend.

"Just what in the hell are we suppose to do with her?"

"Nothing. She's a professional Obi-Wan! Just lie down and relax and let her do her job! If what we thought turned out to be true, then you should automatically have some type of response."

"You first, Obi." Reeft said suddenly, desperately trying to control his nervous giggles.

"No way!" The junior padawan replied. "This was Garen's idea! He should go first!"

"Tell you what." The senior apprentice decided. "We'll let Clitori decide. Whichever one of us she thinks is the most attractive is the one she'll be with first, but we should all probably have a go at her, just in case." 

Obi-Wan didn't like the sound of that, but he supposed it was worth a try.

Garen ushered the young woman back into the room and told her of their idea, and much to Obi-Wan's dismay, she immediately approached him.

"Don't worry honey, I'll be gentle." She soothed in a voice that oozed like honey.

Obi-Wan felt himself being pushed down onto the cot, and then back into a supine position, but then he closed his eyes. It was bad enough that he was allowing this woman to do these things to him, but it was worse that Garen and Reeft were going to stand there and watch. 

However, his eyes didn't stay shut for long. Upon feeling something hot and wet upon his abdomen, Obi-Wan's eyes flew open to see the prostitute fumbling with the drawstrings of his leggings while she laved his stomach with her tongue. Soon, she had his crotch completely exposed and quickly drew his penis into her mouth.

Eyes once more closed, Obi-Wan could hear her humming, and could feel the vibrations of her vocalizations upon his organ, but all it did was embarrass him.

"Come on baby. Doesn't this feel good? Don't you want to stick this in my hot, wet pussy?" She coaxed while Obi-Wan turned several shades of red. "Don't you want to fuck me until I scream and you come inside me?"

Her mouth once more descended upon him and Obi-Wan flexed every muscle in his body until he finally had had enough and he forcefully, as gently as he could, pushed her up and off of him, tucking his flaccid and saliva-covered organ back into his pants.

"Sorry. It's not you." Obi-Wan apologized, but the young woman just looked put out. However, she was not deterred and quickly turned her attention on Garen, although with not as much enthusiasm and no humming. 

Becoming frustrated with him after a while, she then turned on Reeft, who looked as if he was about to pass out, but the prostitute ended up with the same results.

She jumped to her feet and turned on the three of them.

"What's wrong with you!" She screamed. "What are you? Poofs or something?" 

Obi-Wan looked at Garen in confusion, but the older padawan was rubbing his eyes in frustration and didn't see him.

"You still owe me!"

"I know, I know." Garen agreed, pulling out several credits from his utility belt and handing it to the young woman, who snatched it out of his hand.

"Don't bother comming me again." Clitori stated, adjusting her borrowed uniform and barging out the door. "And I can show myself out."

The three abandoned padawans looked to one another in disbelief and disappointment.

"Fuck." Obi-Wan said after a while, not exactly understanding the term, but it seemed to him at the time, the most appropriate thing to say. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven 

Garen Muln waved goodbye one last time as he loaded onto his transport, following after his master, while Reeft, Bant, and Obi-Wan waved back from below. The three friends waited until the transport had moved out of visual range before slowly making their way back into the Temple.

Bant was unusually silent, but Obi-Wan had some idea why.

"You're not sorry to see him go, are you?" He asked his close friend.

"I'm not happy he's going to the Outer Rim Obi-Wan, but yes, I think he's been a rather bad influence on you. You've let your training slip, you've been stressed and easily angered lately, and the 'saber competition is just days away! Figure out what's important and focus on that. You've worked too hard and come so far to mess everything up now."

The young Jedi apprentice stopped walking and regarded the Mon Calamarian carefully. Bant had always been honest and up-front with him, although sometimes a bit blunt. But that's why he liked her so much.

"You're right." Obi-Wan agreed after a pause of silence.

"What does that mean?" Reeft asked from his location slightly ahead of them.

The padawan looked at both his friends and smiled. "It means we're giving up on this crazy quest. We're going to concentrate on passing our exams and achieving senior status. It's time we put all of this behind us."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Bant replied as she took the young man's arm and walked with him past their other comrade, who seemed confused and frozen in place.

"Does that mean we get to eat again? Like we used to?"

Obi-Wan grinned widely and turned to grab a hold of his friend to hurry him along. "Yes, Reeft. You can resume your meticulous eating habits."

A huge sigh of relief escaped the Dressellian as the trio of padawans entered the Temple.

Obi-Wan gazed at the medallion that hung on the wall on the common room of his and Qui-Gon's shared apartment. His Master had insisted on displaying the Junior Level Lightsaber Competition award for all to see. It was a rare showing of Qui-Gon's pride, and honestly, it made Obi-Wan feel privileged. Not that he hadn't earned it.

Following Garen's leave, Obi-Wan had thrown himself into his studies and his training sessions, and just a few weeks later, all of his hard work paid off. He came out of the competition with first place, causing his Master to reveal one of those rare things in the Galaxy. An actual toothy grin. It was an almost frightening sight, but one which Obi-Wan would never forget.

A few months later, only two days following his eighteenth naming day, his Master strode into the commissary waving an official-looking document from the Council that showed that Obi-Wan had passed all of his courses and had met all of his training requirements, and was hereby granted Senior status.

The young man couldn't decide which event had made Qui-Gon look more proud.

And now here they were, waiting on word back from the council on their first Master and Padawan team assignment. Frankly, Obi-Wan was hoping it would be to some place dangerous, where there were rebellious natives or warring clans, a mission where he could use his physical skills, but he knew it probably wouldn't be. First-time missions tended to be of the diplomatic kind. To some remote, but gentle society whose biggest problem seemed to be settling a mining dispute of some sort.

Qui-Gon, who was seated on their sofa waiting for the comm call almost appeared as impatient as Obi-Wan did, but at least he didn't jump in startlement with their communication device did finally bleep. His Master waited what seemed to Obi-Wan like a decade before answering it, but when he finally did, he wasn't disappointed. On the other end was Master Yoda, who announced the Council was sending them to the Bothan system, to a remote little pastorial planet called Naboo. Apparently, one of the mining corporations on one of the Naboo moons had shut down, and the Jedi were being sent to help in the negotiations.

Typical.

They would be leaving the next morning, and whether the mission was perilous or not, Obi-Wan was excited about going.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Their supplies were packed, the bags put on board, and he had bid his friends who were watching him leave from the docking platform below goodbye. To Obi-Wan, it was all surreal. Like a wonderful dream that was finally coming true. This was what he had been waiting his whole life for. His very first Jedi mission.

He just hoped he hadn't forgotten anything. Qui-Gon had given him the duty of packing for the voyage, and he had brought the essentials for the three-day trip. Enough food rations, water, tea, chav, clothing, toiletries, as well as some entertainment items such as a deck of sabaac cards. Although he doubted he'd have time to play.

During the voyage, Obi-Wan planned on using his time to study up on the society of Naboo and its surrounding system, which included three moons, Ohma D'Un, Rori, and Tasis. Rori was apparently the one with the struggling crystallic mine.

But he'd have enough time for study later. Obi-Wan was much more interested in watching the planet of Coruscant ease out of sight. It was the first time he had left the planet since his initial arrival when he was three years old, and that particular memory was far too sketchy. This experience however, was firmly implanted in his mind.

"First meal, padawan." Qui-Gon reminded him as he stood mesmerized, watching through the rear portal at the passing system. In just a few minutes, there would be nothing to see but the streaking of stars after they entered hyperspace, but for now, the neighboring planets and moons rushed by, slowly disappearing from view. It was a beautiful sight. 

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan replied hesitantly. He didn't want to leave his spot, but he knew he had a duty to perform.

Going to the galley of the ship, the young man prepared a light fare and then boiled the water for his and Qui-Gon's morning tea. It was a special blend prepared specifically for the Temple, which every single Jedi drank at least twice a day. It was a ritual of sorts, like shared meditation. Each morning, a padawan would fix a mug of the sweetened liquid for his Master and then for himself, and each night they would do the same. The tea flavors varied throughout the Temple, but the basic ingredients were the same, and everyone he knew drank it.

Obi-Wan paused in mid preparation, staring at the container of tea he held in his hand.

_Everyone he knew drank it_. The thought repeated in his mind and the padawan's heart began racing.

It wasn't meditation, it wasn't the tubers. It was the damn tea! It had to be! Ever since he could remember – or at least since he had become a padawan, he had been making this concoction for himself and his Master – just as every padawan in the Temple did. The calming effects of the blend were supposed to help one focus upon the Force and in the evenings help soothe the stresses of the day, but now Obi-Wan had the suspicion that the tea was responsible for something else entirely.

Without the aid of his comrades or the meddlesome goading of Garen, Padawan Kenobi did what he knew he had to do.

He walked back to the sanitation disposal port and only paused a second before dumping the entire container into space – its tiny frozen crystals glittering in the exhaust of their transport.

"Padawan?" Obi-Wan heard his Master call out from the bridge.

"Yes, Master?" 

"Where's my tea?"

"I, uhm…I forgot to pack it Master." The young man hesitantly replied. "I'm sorry. But it looks like we're having chav for a few days instead." Obi-Wan worried his lip while he waited on Qui-Gon's response, and was pleasantly surprised at what he heard.

"That's okay, Obi-Wan. I was getting pretty tired of tea anyway." 


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

With one day left in their voyage, Obi-Wan became restless. The ship was too small for any advanced aerial katas which he preferred, and so he was confined to basic maneuvers and drills. However, he quickly became bored with them. He spent many hours in meditation and returned to the ship's data system regularly. 

"What are you studying, padawan?" Qui-Gon asked as he approached him from behind.

"Naboo. Again." The padawan replied. There wasn't hardly anything about the small planet he hadn't touched upon. He knew all about their matriarchal society, about the history of the Gungans who were actually the first to discover the tiny world, and about the Queen of Naboo herself. A one Padmé Amidala, daughter of Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie, she was elected Princess of Theed by age thirteen, and Queen a year after, having ruled now for four years. She was considered to be a fair and just ruler who iwas constantly surrounded by a group of women of her likeness who serve her as well as protect her. Handmaidens they were called, and Obi-Wan clicked upon the link to a photo of them, but he quickly bypassed it in order to get to what he really wanted to see: A photo of the young Queen herself, which he had already viewed several times.

"She looks like a serious young woman." His Master noted while watching over his shoulder, sipping his evening chav.

"She looks like someone I'd like to get to know." Obi-Wan said without thinking while his Master paused in consideration.

"Is that so?"

"She's very attractive, don't you think Master?"

"I…I suppose so." Qui-Gon admitted. She was a bit young for his tastes, but he could see where Obi-Wan would think so. Qui-Gon chuckled softly to himself. It was about time, his padawan showed some interest in the opposite sex. He had started to worry.

Qui-Gon had initially trained his padawan as all Masters do to control their natural urges in order to focus upon their training and studies, but now that Obi-Wan was a senior padawan, it was time that the young man began to relax a little.

Qui-Gon could remember a time in his own padawan days when his best friend, Mace Windu had thrown him a party for graduating to Senior level. It was the first time that he had gotten laid. He couldn't remember her name now, but he'd never forget her body. She had the biggest tits he had ever seen on a woman. And come to find out, it was all thanks to Mace. His friend had saved for months to be able to afford one of the highest paid pleasure workers on Coruscant.

Lost in the memory, one which he hadn't conjured up in years, Qui-Gon was startled back to reality by his padawan's next words.

"Actually, I find her to be very…..sexy."

"Sexy?" The older man about choked on the liquid he was attempting to swallow, as laughter threatened once more to bubble up inside of him.

"Yes. Is that the right word?"

The statement was most unexpected, but he was not unfamiliar with the term.

"Yes, I do believe it is, padawan." Qui-Gon replied, deciding to wander away. Although he thought it was time for Obi-Wan to gain some interest in the opposite sex, he wasn't sure he was ready to hear about it yet.

However, Obi-Wan didn't move. He continued staring at the photo of Queen Amidala, not quite understanding what enthralled him.

Was it her eyes? The dark, wide orbs that seemed to speak to him even through a still image? Or was it the innocent expression on her face that claimed she was not the experienced leader she most certainly was? Or maybe it was the elaborate make-up and headdress she wore, and how impossible it was that she looked so natural in it.

There was something about her that interested him, and as Obi-Wan continued watching, he was unaware of his body's timid response – the warming of his blood, and the slight tingle in his groin that were both so unexpected and so unfamiliar that he had no idea what was happening to him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

As soon as he and his padawan had entered the Theed palace, Qui-Gon had immediately noticed how agitated Obi-Wan had become. The eighteen-year-old was typically a bundle of energy just waiting to be unleashed, however, what the Jedi Master was feeling along their training bond was not nervous anticipation. The truth was, he wasn't sure what it was.

"Do you smell something, Master?" Obi-Wan had asked as they followed their escort, a one Captain Panaka, head of palace security.

Qui-Gon took a deep breath and indeed there was an aroma of some kind. It wasn't pungent or offensive in any way, but a sweet, slightly spicy, and rather intoxicating scent that made the smallest of hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

And the closer they got to their destination, the more powerful the odor became, until they were both standing in front of a gathering of elegantly-dressed females, the center figure obviously the Queen.

Qui-Gon inhaled deeply once more and realized it wasn't a perfume he was detecting either. But the smell was vaguely familiar, the identification of it was on the tip of his tongue, and the older man frantically searched his memories in order to access the information. 

While he was doing so, Captain Panaka made the necessary introductions and only when both Jedi bowed low in greeting did Qui-Gon remember.

It had been years since he had experienced the effects of female aphrodisiacs, otherwise known as pheromones. 

The older man struggled to understand why they were affecting him, especially now of all moments, and he hastily erected his mental shields to ward off their effects, the way his Master had taught him to do when he was a padawan.

Being sensitive to the Force sensitized a Jedi in other things as well, and part of a padawan's training involved shielding and control of sensory perceptions. He had trained his own padawan in these things.

Except for maybe this one thing in particular.

Qui-Gon hadn't needed to teach Obi-Wan how to guard against sexual stimulation. For some reason, the boy seemed immune to it.

And personally, he thought he had outgrown it. He was in his fifties now.

But something had changed. Drastically so.

Even with his shields carefully constructed, they were weak because he was out of practice, and the smells still permeated, stirring something in his blood. 

Qui-Gon realized with a start that if this was affecting him in such a manner, even when he knew what to do in order to combat it, what was it doing to his apprentice?

While the Queen gave the details of the miner's strike, Qui-Gon shot Obi-Wan a glance. The young man shifted uneasily and brought his cloak together in front of him, an unnatural hue creeping up his neck and turning his ears a most brilliant shade of pink.

In order to assist his padawan, the Jedi Master dared to go against decorum and interrupted the queen's recitation, asking for a recess in order that he and his padawan may rest, giving the excuse that they had endured a long voyage in rather cramped accommodations.

The ruler's brows rose in surprise, but she acknowledged the Jedi Master's request. 

Immediately, Qui-Gon filed out of the main audience chamber with a rare display of haste, literally dragging his apprentice behind him, grabbing a hold of Obi-Wan's cloak when it became apparent that the young man was hesitant to leave, having apparently become mesmerized by the rather attractive gathering of women. Or to be specific, one woman in particular.

After being shown the quarters they would be staying in, Qui-Gon thanked the Captain and practically slammed the door in the poor man's face.

"Master!" Obi-Wan declared, slightly out of breath. "What's happening to me?"

The older Jedi took a deep breath and turned slowly to face his student.

"You are suffering from a rather sudden overactive libido brought on by the release of oxytocin into your blood stream, which is a direct result of the stimulation of endorphins attacking your central nervous system."

The Jedi Master stopped when he noticed his padawan gaping at him with a wide open mouth.

"What?"

"You're horny, padawan." 

The young man uncomfortably adjusted the bulge in his pants which he was trying to hide underneath his robes.

"What does…horny mean? Please Master! Make some sense!"

Qui-Gon took another deep breath before continuing. "As soon as we arrived in the palace, through the Force, I could detect a very strong concentration of estrogen and female pheromones. It is a matriarchal society after all, Obi-Wan. The women outnumber the men here two to one."

"Is that what that was?" His apprentice wondered aloud.

"Obviously, when we came in direct contact with the Queen and her entourage, our symptoms worsened."

"That wasn't the Queen." Obi-Wan murmured in reply.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." The apprentice responded confidently. He had been staring at her picture for three days now. The real queen, Padmé Amidala, had been standing three people down to the left due to some type of security protocol, he figured. Obi-Wan had locked his eyes upon her the second he and his Master had entered the room.

"But Master, why is this happening now?" It just didn't make any sense. The women of Naboo had no special powers, and it wasn't like he hadn't been around the opposite sex before. Flashbacks of Clitori and that pleasure maiden in the bar came to mind, and Obi-Wan quickly pushed the memories away.

"I'm not sure." Qui-Gon replied thoughtfully. "Stay here and meditate, padawan. I'm going to go see if I can find out." 


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"I don't care if he's meeting with the Supreme Chancellor! Patch me through to Master Yoda now!" 

"Y...yes sir, Master Jinn, sir." The junior padawan who had answered the Temple comm stammered.

As soon as the relay was sent, Qui-Gon grinned. Apparently, there _was_ an advantage to having a reputation of an ogre.

Soon, the flickering image of the revered elder Jedi appeared.

"Master QUi-Gon, unexpected this is. Trouble, have you on Naboo?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Tense you appear. Perhaps, meditate you should."

"There's no time for that. Something's happening to Obi-Wan and myself, and I was wondering if you've felt any fluctuations in the Force lately."

The green, wrinkled face of Yoda pinched in concentration before he answered.

"No." He eventually responded. "All is calm. Serene, the Force is."

"Then the problem must be with us." Qui-Gon thought outloud.

"What problem is this you speak of?"

The younger Jedi Master squirmed in his seat, a frown of concern creasing Yoda's face at the uncharacteristic display he was witnessing.

"I'm afraid that Obi-Wan and I are experiencing what can only be described as..."

"Yes?" Yoda prompted after a long pause.

"Sexual arousal."

Most of the wrinkles in Master Yoda's face evened out as his large eyes widened, the being's pointed ears perking up upon hearing this news until the ancient Master obviously recovered, his brows quickly furrowing. 

"Perhaps have evening tea and meditate, you should" 

"I don't wish to meditate." Qui-Gon shot back. There was no way that in his present state of mind he could possibly meditate, although that was exactly what he had instructed his padawan to do.

That thought struck Qui-Gon rather funny, but then he became alarmed. Perhaps he'd better cut this communication short.

"Then just drink your tea." Yoda repeated.

"What?" The confused Jedi responded, having been lost in his own thoughts. "I don't want any tea." 

"A good idea, drinking tea is. Calm you, it will." 

"I am calm!" Qui-Gon nearly yelled, immediately lowering his voice and attempting to find his center. "I am calm." He repeated more quietly.

"Still, go back to your padawan, you should. Fix tea together. Then meditate and find peace in the Force, you will."

"I don't want any damn tea! What's with the obsession of tea all of a sudden? " Qui-Gon raged. "And besides, we don't have any tea."

In response to the Jedi Master's words, Yoda's ears visibly drooped. 

"No tea have you?"

"No! Obi-Wan forgot to pack it." The Jedi Master responded, his face revealing his irritation until suddenly it dawned on him.

They hadn't drank any tea since leaving Coruscant three days ago, and now they were having this problem.

Qui-Gon had always considered himself a rather intelligent being, but he was mentally kicking himself now for not figuring this out sooner.

He looked at the gravely concerned holographic form of Master Yoda and sent him a leveling glare.

"How long have you and the Council been chemically altering the Jedi's behavior?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Meditate! There was no way in hell he could meditate! Had his Master gone mad? Was this one of the symptoms? Insanity?

If so, then maybe he was suffering from it as well. Obi-Wan felt like he was about to go crazy! Or at least crawl out of his skin.

Grabbing his cloak from off the back of a chair, the padawan hurried out of the palace quarters. He had to move! Get some exercise or something. Maybe a walk through the hallways of the palace would help.

At first, it did, he thought, until he rounded a corner and came face to face with a pretty face.

Although it wasn't the one that he had been seeing in his dreams the past two or three days, it was charming enough to set his nerves once more on fire.

"You're Padawan Kenobi, right?" The young handmaiden asked.

"Yes. I'm Obi-Wan." His voice squeaked in reply.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled and Obi-Wan suppressed a groan as he adjusted his robes to hide his growing erection. "My name's Eirtaé." 

When the young woman eased her hand out in a greeting, Obi-Wan knew he should take it. It was the polite thing to do, but in his state, he didn't think it was such a good idea. And besides, he would've had to remove the hand that was so conveniently holding his robe closed.

So, insead, he apologized, excused himself, spun on his heel, and ran the opposite direction.

His absent-minded steps took Obi-Wan down the hall until he found himself standing outside of the palace and looking at what appeared to be some type of topiary garden.

He breathed in the fresh evening air and finally began to feel the serenity of the Living Force descend upon him. It was like a soothing salve to his chaotic soul. 

But then, the young man heard distant voices, and the padding of approaching feet, and he realized that two more handmaidens were strolling through the garden, thus shattering his calm.

Didn't these people ever sleep?

Obi-Wan was frantic. He couldn't go back into the palace. He would surely run into another female there. And he couldn't obviously venture out into the garden. There was, in fact, only one place he could go.

The Jedi padawan summoned the Force, looked straight above him, and then jumped.

He landed solidly on a balcony facing the garden. In front of him was a set of double doors with many panes of glass, covered with a sheer set of curtains on the inside, which just so happened to be parted enough for him to look through.

Obi-Wan dared to take a peek, his excuse being that it might be a possible escape back to his own quarters. However, the Force seemed to have other plans, because moving into the room was none other than the actual Queen of Naboo. 

He watched her carefully and quietly. When she pushed back the hood of the orange gown she wore and reached up to release the band that held her dark hair up, the long, luxurious mane tumbled down over her shoulders and Obi-Wan groaned. He could picture himself sinking his hands into the rich, thick softness of it as he ran his tongue up along her neck to taste her. He could smell her scent even from where he stood, and he imagined that she would taste just as sweet.

Driven by his rising lust, the Jedi allowed his hand to wander to his crotch and flinched as his hypersensitive body reacted to his slightest touch, even though he was fully clothed. 

Unable to move except for the occasional shiver that shot from his groin up his spine as his hand grazed over his erection, Obi-Wan was forced into action when the object of his desire disappeared from his sight.

There was no time to contemplate his decision. The young man was driven by pure need, and despite the consequences of his actions, he slipped through locked doors easily accessed by the Force, and boldly made his way across her sleep room, where he could hear the running of water.

Easing the door open to her private 'fresher just a bit more, Obi-Wan's mouth gaped open in pleasurable shock as he gazed upon the revealing of satiny, pale skin, small, perky breasts, a trim waist, and well-toned legs. Everything about her petite figure was seductive - even more so than the supposed pleasure girl that Garen had hired.

The young woman was arranging toiletries to prepare for her shower while Obi-Wan arranged himself -- his hand slipping into his loosened leggings in order to fondle his now-weeping erection.

Without even the need to recall the actions he had seen in the porn vid he had watched, the young man's natural instincts took over and he thrust once, then twice into his grip as he struggled to maintain his focus upon the beautiful and bare body displayed before him.

What he wouldn't give if his hand were hers instead. He pictured her writhing beneath him as he thrust into her warmth. But instead of her voice moaning words of lust and desire as Clitori had done, the Queen of Naboo whispered words of endearment and love.

With these words echoing in his mind as Padmé bent over to retrieve a towel she had dropped, Obi-Wan came with a shout.

And then completely blacked out.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"That's strange." Padmé said to Sabé as she leaned over to whisper into her decoy's ear. "I've heard the Jedi were rather eccentric, but leaving a briefing and interrupting like that was just..."

"Rude." Sabé finished for her.

"I wouldn't say rude. Master Jinn _was_ polite about it. And besides, the young one, Padawan Kenobi -- he didn't look all that well."

The handmaidens stood waiting for their queen to decide their next move, until Sabé, being First Maiden, spoke up.

"What does Mi'Lady wish to do now?"

"Wait until morning to re-convene, I suppose. It's late. Everyone is excused." 

Within half an hour, Queen Amidala's suspicions were confirmed. Captain Panaka informed her that the Jedi Master had used the palace comm to make an emergency call to the Jedi Temple, and that to him, the older man seemed worried and upset. 

Perhaps, the padawan was ill after all. Perhaps she should send her personal physician to help.

But the young woman quickly changed her mind. The Jedi had their own methods of treatment. Their physicians were called healers, and their ways were quite different.

Satisfied that there was little she could do, Padmé went to her room. It had been a long day of arguing with the mining representatives and right now, all she wanted was a long, hot shower.

The young woman allowed the water to run while preparing herself, removing her clothing and rummaging through a collection of toiletries, when her actions knocked the towel she had placed on the sink off onto the floor. When she bent over to pick it up, she heard a strange noise.

It had sounded like a hoarse cry. Almost like the sound of a geela bird. But the geela birds, being warm weather fowl, had already migrated to the southern climates.

Perhaps, one had strayed behind, she thought, and had almost dismissed the noise when it was suddenly accompanied by the sound of a thud that had come from just beyond her 'fresher door.

Ever wary, especially during such stressful negotiations, Padmé donned her robe and grabbed a pair of scissors from her medicine cabinet. She then quietly made her way across the bathing room, turned off the glowlights, and eased open the door.

"Of all the incomprehensible, completely ridiculous ideas!" Qui-Gon Jinn mumbled on his way back from the palace comm center. Only Master Yoda would think of something as ludicrous as suppressing natural hormones in order to control a padawan's sexual urges.

And his excuse?

To keep other apprentices from doing what Xanatos had done -- which was give up all of his training and his future as a Jedi for the love of a woman.

"There are other ways." Qui-Gon had argued.

"Xanatos, your padawan he was. Lost to the Jedi, he is. All of our time and effort, wasted it is. No other way is there."

The pain of his student's leaving was still fresh in Qui-Gon's mind, but he had always thought that the failed mission on Telos was the reason for his student's betrayal. At least that's what the note which Xanatos apparently had left behind for him said.

But now, the Jedi Master discovered that the note had been forged, and that Xanatos' true reason for leaving the Jedi Order was that he had fallen in love.

When Qui-Gon had accused Yoda of lying to him all these years, the ancient Master responded by saying they were protecting him, as well as protecting all the other Jedi Masters ahead of him from a similar fate. They were preserving their future.

Confident that his decision had been and still was the correct one, Master Yoda had calmly reassured Qui-Gon that a shipment of tea would be sent to Naboo immediately.

But calmness was not the feeling that Qui-Gon shared. After adamantly refusing to receive the shipment, he disconnected the comm, totally livid.

Now, he was on his way back to his padawan to teach him how to use his shielding and meditation to control these urges. The way his Master taught him to do apparently back in a time when it had been necessary. Back before the council's insufferable and unjustifiable interference.

However, when he reached their assigned quarters, Obi-Wan was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps, the boy had gone outside to meditate, the Master assumed. When his padawan was disturbed or upset, that's usually what he did. 

Believing that was the situation, Qui-Gon turned and left the room to venture outdoors in search of his apprentice.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen **

When Padmé beheld what was lying in front of her door, she was so stunned that she dropped the scissors from her hand, piercing her bare foot.

Kneeling to rub the painful prick that had resulted, the young woman glanced over the sprawled body and shook her head in confusion.

It was Padawan Kenobi all right, and she could scarcely believe what he had so obviously been doing. The evidence of it was all over his hand.

Reminded, however, that the young man was ill and possibly not in his right mind, the queen sympathized with him and returned to the 'fresher for a warm, wet towel.

Padmé cleansed his hand first, noticing the calluses that covered his palm and fingertips, and then she gingerly moved the rag over his penis, which, by the way was quite impressive, even in its post-ejaculatory state, she noted, blushing ever so slightly while doing so.

When the cleansing was complete, Padmé carefully wrapped her hand around the Jedi's organ in order to place it back into his pants, right when her bedroom door opened.

"Mi'Lady, I was just checking to see if you…"

Sabé's words stuttered to a stop as she viewed the sight before her, a wide grin spreading across the handmaiden's face.

"It's not what it looks like." Padmé responded immediately.

"Oh really?" Sabé returned with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You just couldn't wait to get your hands on his lightsaber, could you?"

"Oh, shut-up and get over here and help me."

The two women managed to get Obi-Wan onto Padmé's bed and Sabé stared at the handsome young man, and then at her queen.

"Well? Now what are you going to do with him?" She asked.

"He's ill, Sabé. We need to contact his Master. Go see if you can find him."

The handmaiden hesitated and then stepped away from the bed. "All right, but if he wakes up, you'd better…" Sabé paused and then smiled. "Well, just don't do anything I would do."

Padmé smiled back at her First Maiden, and then looked back upon the unconscious Jedi.

He was much more handsome in person, she decided. As soon as she had been informed that the Jedi assigned to come to Naboo to help her were Jinn and Kenobi, she had looked them up on the Holonet. It was protocol to do so, to assure that the Jedi who arrived were who they claimed to be. However, it wasn't protocol to keep returning to stare at his image as many times as she had.

He looked about her age with reddish-blonde hair, sporting a long padawan braid. But it was his eyes that caught her her attention in the photo. And it was his eyes that held her attention in the audience chamber.

When the Jedi had entered the room, the padawan had immediately focused upon her, almost as if he knew who she was. Surprisingly though, the young queen was not made uncomfortable by it, and in fact, seemed to warm under his gaze, finding a comfort there in a way she couldn't explain.

And now, here he was in her bed.

Almost without thinking, the young woman eased down to sit next to him and then reached over to lightly caress his brow, her fingertips ghosting across one mole located on his forehead, another on his cheek, and then on to the interesting indentation in his chin.

Her bold caresses continued down to his throat, where she could feel the pulsing of his heart, and as if of their own accord, her fingers moved to reach beneath the opening of his tunic, and would have gone even further except for the fact the Jedi's eyes popped open and widened, and the young man immediately scooted back away from her until he had seated himself against the headboard, pulling his knees protectively in front of him.

"How did I get here? Where am I?"

"Don't you remember?"

Her soft, gentle eyes implored him, while the lingering warmth of her touch began to stir something in his belly, and then…he remembered.

_Gawds! What had he done!? _

Obi-Wan's face blushed crimson and Padmé once more felt sympathy toward him.

This wasn't some kind of perverted voyeur. There was something actually wrong with the young man.

She lay a comforting hand on his knee, only to quickly remove it at the harsh command he issued.

"Don't. Don't touch me."

The young queen looked at him in confusion.

"Why?"

"I…" Obi-Wan spoke, squirming on the bed before he reached up and unexpectedly pinched his nose shut, and then closed his eyes. "I can't control it!" He said nasally.

"Control what?" Padmé asked, trying her best not to laugh, but the picture he created was so peculiar.

"My reaction to you!" He admitted in the same posture, and Padmé took advantage of it to move closer to him until she was a breath away from his face. She couldn't help herself. He was just so vulnerable and…cute this way.

"Then why control it?" She asked quietly.

She knew he had felt her breath upon his face, because gradually he released his nose and slowly opened his eyes, his own breathing beginning to come out in pants.

"Because…." Obi-Wan tried to explain, but the blood was pounding in his ears, and he couldn't think properly. "It's not right."

"Let me be the one to decide that." The young woman declared before she leaned forward and placed her lips upon him.

The kiss sent heat surging through his body and directly to his groin, and although he was inexperienced with the process, Obi-Wan made up for it in determination. He allowed the young woman to set the pace and was starting to get the hang of kissing when the queen's door swung open and in walked his Master. 

"Take your hands off my padawan! Obi-Wan, go back to our room!" 


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Padmé tried, she really tried to move away from the young man, but something compelled her to stay. Whether it was the hot, soft tongue that swirled around in her mouth or the feel of the firm muscles of his chest beneath her hands, she didn't have time to figure out before Master Jinn had lifted her away, prying her mouth and hands from his body. Only then did Padmé blush as she realized what she had been doing.

"Padawan." Qui-Gon repeated. "Go back to our room."

Obi-Wan tried, he really tried to obey, but something compelled him to stay, and he knew exactly what it was.

The young queen was like a siren to him, and he wanted nothing more than to pull her away from his Master and ravage her body, plunge his tongue in and out of her mouth and his once-again erect penis in and out of other places.

That is, until Qui-Gon shoved Padmé behind his large frame, effectively hiding her from Obi-Wan, and then reached over and clamped his apprentice's nose shut with his forefinger and thumb. 

"Padawan. You've got a count of three to get up off that bed and get back to our room before you see me lose my so-called serenity."

Qui-Gon's voice was pitched low and the command knocked Obi-Wan back to his senses.

The young man immediately scrambled off the bed and rushed out the door.

"My apologies, your highness." The older man said, bowing quickly and following his apprentice out of the room.

Within a few seconds, Sabé re-appeared, poking her head through Padmé's open door.

"What's all the commotion?"

But the queen didn't reply, and in fact, on closer inspection, she appeared to be quite flustered. Sabé rushed to her side.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

"I….I tried to seduce him." Padmé uttered, obviously stunned, which only confused Sabé all the more. The last time she had seen the Jedi, he was the one who was exposed and apparently trying to get him some. 

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know what came over me! One minute I was trying to help him, and the next, I was trying to…to…." The young woman stuttered, fluttering her hand in front of her body in exasperation.

"Fuck him." Sabé finished for her.

"Sabé!"

"What?" The handmaiden feigned innocently. 'What's wrong with that? You're handsome, he's handsome, you're a woman, he's a man…" 

"It's just not proper."

Padmé raised her brow in response to Sabé's long sputter of disbelief.

"Who cares? And besides, who's going to know? He'll be gone in less than a week, and you'll probably never see him again. I say do him."

At Padmé's look of disapproval, Sabé chuckled and rephrased her advice.

"It. I mean do it." 

The young queen looked at her handmaiden as if she had lost her mind, knowing that she wasn't about to follow the young woman's advice.

However, she also knew that five minutes ago, doing Obi-Wan, as Sabé so crassly put it, was exactly what she had planned on doing.

And she found that realization quite disturbing.

Obi-Wan made it to their room just before Qui-Gon and took a stance in the center of the space, appearing much more calm than he had a few minutes before. At least his erection was gone.

He took a deep breath and mentally prepared for the coming storm. It had been years since he had heard his Master use that tone of voice. 

However, when Qui-Gon entered the room, Obi-Wan noted he seemed to be at peace and still very much his typically serene self. If anything, it looked as if his Master was worried.

"Obi-Wan, have a seat."

The young man immediately complied, settling on one of the shorter couches in the sitting area located in the corner of the room. Qui-Gon joined him there.

"I've spoken with Master Yoda." The older man began. "And apparently, the council has deemed it necessary for the past several years to modify the natural process of a Jedi's libido through a supplement in our diet."

"The tea." Obi-Wan muttered, knowing immediately what had happened, although he couldn't understand why. 

"Exactly." Qui-Gon agreed. "I'm afraid that you and I have been suffering from the effects of withdrawal from whatever Yoda has been medicating us with and although I am aware of how to deal with it, you are not. I shall have to teach you."

"So…we're not going to drink any more tea?"

"No." His Master said with a small smile. "No more tea. There are some meditations and shielding that I need to instruct you in."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan replied with a smile of his own.

"But we must be careful Obi-Wan. I'm not sure what we have been under the influence of, and the withdrawal symptoms may be severe, especially for you, since you are in your sexual prime."

"I'll be careful, Master." Obi-Wan agreed quite confidently.

However, he also knew that five minutes ago, being careful was the last thing on his mind. And he also knew that he had to get a hold of Garen as soon as possible.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Until Obi-Wan had mastered the shielding techniques that Qui-Gon taught him earlier, his Master had basically confined him to their quarters, which consisted of two rooms adjoined by a 'fresher.

However, about mid-way through the evening, Obi-Wan still lay awake considering what Qui-Gon had told him and everything that he and his friends had gone through. And then he made a decision.

Although Qui-Gon had told him that he would take the matter up personally with the council upon their return to the Temple, Obi-Wan couldn't wait that long. He had to contact Garen and Reeft and let them know. They deserved to know.

The young Jedi eased out of the single bed assigned to him and slipped into his robe, donned his boots, tucking in his light sleep pants and then crept noiselessly through the 'fresher to check on his Master. After assuring that the older man was sound asleep, Obi-Wan then slipped out into the hallways of Theed Palace.

His Master hadn't forbidden him to leave his room, he justified as he walked. He just told him to avoid any of the women here. At least until he was confident in his defenses.

Well, it was third hour and Obi-Wan figured the queen and her handmaidens were all asleep by now. 

And he was only going to the communications station. One call to the Jedi Temple and then he was back in his quarters.

No harm done.

Padmé awoke with a start from a rather confusing dream.

There was a desert and some kind of race. Obi-Wan was there and a little boy she had never seen before. It was very hot. She did remember that much, but that was about it.

The Naboo leader searched her mind for details, but found them sketchy at best. After a while, she gave up only to realize that the dream had left her rather parched. 

Grabbing one of her plush, floor-length robes and fuzzy slippers, Padmé left her room to head toward the kitchens. 

She could ask one of her handmaidens to go for her, but after such a strange dream, Padmé didn't think she could go back to sleep. And plus, she needed the exercise. The young woman suddenly felt oddly restless tonight.

"Reeft!" Obi-Wan harshly whispered across the holographic comm. "Stop complaining about the hour! It's early here too! I have something important to tell you and I need you to pass it on to Garen when he returns from the Rim."

"Garen's already back, Obi." His friend noted sleepily.

"Since when?"

"Yesterday." 

"Then relay me and get him on!" Obi-Wan insisted.

The Dressellian Padawan disappeared from view for just a moment, and then the transmission split into two sections, Reeft on the left, and Garen on the right.

"This had better be good Kenobi." 

"Tea." Obi-Wan stated simply, trying to get to the point quickly.

"No thanks. I've already had some." An irritated and confused Garen stated.

"Hey, that sounds good." Was the other Padawan's reply.

"Will you two shut the hell up? It's the tea! Whatever the council is controlling our urges with is in the tea!"

"Are you sure?" 

Obi-Wan's friends came fully awake at the news. 

"Positive! I had my suspicions and dumped ours out on the way here."

"No shit?" Garen asked, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"No shit." Obi-Wan answered back.

"What happened?"

"Gods Reeft, I've never felt anything like it. The smell and the sight of the women here, especially one of them….what a turn on." Obi-Wan murmured across the comm, feeling the beginning stirring of his blood.

"Did you…did you get…" Reeft tried to ask, pointing down in the general direction of his groin, but was too embarrassed to continue. 

"A hard-on? I certainly did. And that's not all. I ejaculated!"

"No shit! How did it feel?"

"Amazing Garen. Absolutely fucking amazing!" Obi-Wan sighed, leaving out the part about him passing out when he came and being caught by his Master making out with the queen.

"That's great Obi." Reeft replied, honestly happy for his friend.

"Don't be too pleased yet Reeft." Garen cut in. "We've got our work cut out for us now."

"What work?"

"We've got to get the word out and then get rid of this damn tea!"

Garen then shook his head and laughed heartily. "I'm proud of you, Kenobi."

"Thanks." The young man answered, smiling broadly. "I'll be in touch. Kenobi out."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Obi-Wan disconnected the comm and secured his robe around his body as he made his way back to the guestrooms. His steps were light and fast-paced, and he nodded his head and smiled at a passing palace guard.

But, as he rounded a corner and headed down a long corridor, his feet slowed, his heart rate increased, and a flush swept up and over his skin.

At the opposite end of the hallway was a young woman who also slowed her approach, until finally the distance between them was minimal, and the Jedi recognized her as the young and beautiful queen of Naboo.

No words were exchanged as their gazes locked upon one another, and so Obi-Wan didn't know what she was thinking. But he knew he had to think fast before whatever power she obviously had over him took away every ounce of his control.

He discovered he basically had two options. He could turn and run, or he could face her.

Well, Obi-Wan decided, he was a Jedi, and Jedi never flee in the face of a challenge.

However, his confidence was soon shredded and replaced with an overpowering need that the young woman undoubtedly was experiencing herself, due to the fact that she abruptly shoved the young man backward and into the nearest unoccupied space.

As soon as the door slid shut behind him, she surged upward and plundered the inside of his mouth with her tongue, rather aggressively, Obi-Wan thought, while managing to maneuver them both to the double bed located in the center of the room.

Grasping onto what little comprehension he had left, the words, "You must avoid the women here at all costs, Padawan" floated through the haze of Obi-Wan's mind, and the command "Wait" escaped his mouth.

But when her hand grasped a hold of his erection that was threatening to burst the seams of his sleep trousers, lust replaced all of his Master's warnings, and any semblance of responsibility that still lingered in the young Jedi's mind. 

"What's happening?" He heard her murmur between kisses that were leaving him gasping for breath.

"I don't care." He murmured back, pulling her roughly to him and demanding entrance for his tongue once more. "Do you?" He asked after he pulled away.

"No." Was her immediate reply as Padmé pulled the dark brown cloak from off his shoulders and left a trail of fire behind a feather-light touch that ran down the length of his muscled chest and abdomen.

Obi-Wan soon returned the favor, stripping Padmé of her luxurious velvet dressing gown and deftly untying the satin ribbons that held the bodice of her negligee together.

The feel of the soft, supple mounds underneath his coarse, callused hands only added to Obi-Wan's mounting desire, but when a delicate moan escaped Padmé's mouth as he worked one of the nipples into a rigid peak, the young man nearly came undone. 

And they hadn't even gotten undressed or made it to the bed yet.

Padmé was the one who remedied that problem by pulling Obi-Wan backward, falling down upon the bed and drawing the young man down on top of her. She was panting wildly and pulled the bottom of the nightgown up to her waist before frantically moving to undo the ties to his pants while Obi-Wan could do nothing but watch her movements in a daze.

And when her hands grasped and fondled his engorged cock, guiding him into her body, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

The actual entry was much easier than he had imagined it would be and much, much hotter.

Obi-Wan pushed himself in as deeply as he could, shuddered and paused as he repeated the phrase "don't pass out" in his head. Fingernails digging into his ass however, spurred him into action, and he rocked back and forth slowly at first, relishing the feel of her moist, silken channel gripping his cock like a glove.

He knew he was close. He tried to make it last, but he couldn't. Especially when Padmé arched up, wrapped her legs around the middle of his back and screamed his name.

Obi-Wan exploded inside of her, bright sparks of light filling his vision, until blackness threatened to consume them, but the young Jedi refused to lose consciousness again. Not this time. This time, no matter what, he was going to stay awake.

The problem was, someone else was awake as well. 

Down the hallway, Qui-Gon Jinn's eyes flew open as he felt the shuddering after-effects of his orgasm; shocked to find his own hand moving rhythmically along his thickened shaft. 

"Extraordinary." The older man mumbled. It had been years since he had experienced the pleasure of masturbation, especially while he slept.

The problem was, he wasn't sure what had brought it on. He couldn't recall having a dream of any erotic nature.

And then he realized there could only be one other explanation.

The Jedi Master searched along the mental link he shared with his Padawan, lowering his shields slowly, only to slam them back into place when their bond was flooded with the young man's feelings of extreme arousal.

Throwing the stained sheet aside, Qui-Gon adjusted himself and his pants and strode across his room, through the small 'fresher and into Obi-Wan's adjoining quarters, only to find them disappointingly empty.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Qui-Gon returned to his quarters and quickly put on his boots. He wasn't necessarily angry with his Padawan, since everything that was happening to him wasn't entirely Obi-Wan's fault. However, it was his Padawan's duty to obey his Master's commands, and Qui-Gon had made it quite clear that the boy was to stay in his own quarters. There's no telling what the lad was up to, although, the Jedi Master had a good idea.

Dressed well enough to be decent, the older man palmed open the door, his intention to once again locate and extricate his Padawan from the arms of the queen, when much to his surprise, he discovered Obi-Wan standing in his doorway. A huge grin on his face.

Sith. He was too late.

"Padawan. What are you doing out in the hall? Didn't I tell you not to leave your room?"

The younger man frowned and shifted his feet. "No. You told me to stay away from the women here."

"By staying in your quarters!" Qui-Gon insisted, crossing his arms.

"I just went out for a walk, Master." Obi-Wan replied, trying to cover up the truth that during his walk he had contacted his friends back at the Temple. 

"And did you run into anyone in the halls?"

"A few guards." Obi-Wan explained, attempting to maintain eye contact with his Master lest he should give himself away, but it was no use. He had never been able to lie to his Master. Qui-Gon could always see right through it.

"And the queen." He added more quietly. 

"The queen!" Qui-Gon bellowed, one hand relocating to his hip while the other floundered about. "And did you….did you?" 

"Yes." Obi-wan admitted, unable to stop the huge smile from once again spreading across his face. He knew he shouldn't be smiling, but he couldn't help himself. His Master was obviously furious with him, as he had a right to be.

However, much to Obi-Wan's surprise, Qui-Gon's shoulders relaxed and a slight grin turned up the corners of the older man's mouth.

"Well?" He asked, and Obi-Wan sighed in relief.

"It was wonderful, Master. Beautiful. I've never felt anything like it."

Qui-Gon regarded his apprentice with wonder. The boy was practically glowing and he had never felt his Padawan more in tune with the Living Force. 

"And did everything that is good and just get swallowed up into the cataclysmic abyss of the Dark Side?"

"No." The younger man answered with some confusion as to his Master's abrupt line of questioning.

"Did the act of a Jedi having sexual intercourse release thousands of Sith and bring an end to the Republic?"

"Master." Obi-Wan chuckled.

"I didn't think so." Qui-Gon smiled and reached out to squeeze the young man's shoulder in a supportive gesture.

"Return to your room, Padawan and try to get some sleep. We still have a duty to perform here."

"Yes, Master."

Author Notes: Sorry this one was short but I'm short on time and trying to get back into this story. More will come - just can't promise when! Stay tuned, please. 


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

The mining representative was a fierce-looking man of maturity, his long, graying hair tied tightly behind his head, his features stern and unforgiving. It was all Qui-Gon could to keep him distracted while he and the Naboo Council awaited the arrival of the Queen.

It had taken Padmé several hours of negotiations via holocom to even get the man to agree to come to the palace, and so the meeting was already strained. Having the representative and his associates wait for so long was merely adding to the tension. 

Already, a handmaiden, Sabé, had been dispatched to search her out, but that was over fifteen minutes ago.

Qui-Gon kept his eye on the wide councilroom doorway, almost willing the young leader to appear. However, his mind was elsewhere, because Padmé was not the only one who was missing. The Jedi Master was busily searching for his Padawan using their training bond as a sort of tracking device. Usually, he could locate Obi-Wan right away by tracing his Padawan's emotions through the Force, but his reading this afternoon was being overloaded with a cacophony of conflicting feelings and expressions, and the older man suddenly had a bad feeling about the entire situation.

Obi-Wan had never before failed in his duty, Qui-Gon mused with trepidation. All the young man was supposed to have done was to escort the mining corporation leaders to the council chambers. However, apparently, he had never even made it to the hangar. Qui-Gon would've gone to search for his apprentice himself, but the controlling officer of the Naboo Mining Corporation was not one to be put off, and he demanded the Jedi's full attention. 

That was over two hours ago, and what little patience the older official had was beginning to wear thin. Especially when Sabé returned and announced that she had been unable to locate her Majesty.

At that point, the visiting executive bounded up from his seat.

"This is preposterous!" He bellowed, his face turning nearly as red as the vest he wore. "When Queen Amidala decides that the deplorable situation at the plant is enough to warrant her attention, please be sure to give us a comm. Only this time, she may come to us! In the meantime, I am sure the workers will retaliate with a strike until their needs are met. Good day."

The man was in such a rage that neither Qui-Gon nor the Governor of Naboo could stop him. He immediately strode across the room to exit, swinging his arms in frustration as he refused their suggestions to stay just a few minutes more, only he never made it to the door.

In his aggravated movements, he had apparently activated a control to another door. A secret panel that, when opened, revealed some type of private office that apparently belonged to the Queen.

Qui-Gon assumed as much, based upon the fact that the room was rather ornate and filled with various pieces of furniture styled in royal tradition, including a rather large gold-inlaid desk.

On top of which was crouched the Queen herself, bouncing up and down, and whose abundance of gown was not enough to cover up the head of his Padawan, which was lying off the desk, upside down, facing the doorway.

"Master!" Obi-Wan blurted out in alarm before haphazardly rolling, dumping both himself and the Queen onto the floor. 


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Obi-Wan watched with nervous anticipation as his Master paced back and forth across the floor of their palace quarters later that evening. The young man tentatively reached across their training bond to test Qui-Gon's emotional state, but the only reply was static. His Master had completely shielded against him. 

Things may possibly be worse than they already were, the apprentice thought, and they were pretty bad to begin with. 

However, when Qui-Gon finally stopped and turned toward his apprentice, his face did not reveal the level of frustration that Obi-Wan expected to see.

'Tell me what happened." The older man implored gently.

"I was on my way to the hangar as you requested, Master, but before I reached it, I ran into Padmé…uhm … I mean, Queen Amidala. I'm not sure what happened after that."

"Focus, Padawan." The Jedi Master said as he scrubbed his face with his hand.

"That's just it, Master! I can't! Whenever I'm around her, I can't concentrate! I seem to lose all sense of self control."

The young man's eyes drifted shut as he continued, and soon, his Master slid down to a seat across from his Padawan, his head lying heavily in his hands.

"I tried to get away from her, but something kept me there, tied me to her. Her perfume maybe, or the way her eyes sparkle. And when she touched me, I got all tangled up inside and it felt like my brain was beginning to melt. The next thing I knew, we were in her private study and she was kissing me and touching me all over and I had no other desire than to be inside of her, to feel her satiny skin underneath my hands, and hear her moan my name when I drove myself…"

"Padawan…"

"…up inside of her. She was just as frantic as I was. We didn't even get undressed. Her hands were hot and grasping my erection and then she pushed me backward onto the top of her desk and crawled up on top me and…"

"Padawan!"

"….gods, she was already undressed underneath that big gown, and she was so hot and slippery. I just slid right in and it felt so good. She was moving her body up and down, up and down, her inner muscles flexing, pulling me deeper and deeper…"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi!"

"Huh?" The young man blinked, the shame of what he had been saying coloring his neck and face as he adjusted the resulting bulge that had appeared in his groin. However, a small smile appeared as he noticed his Master doing the same.

Qui-Gon, on the other hand, was not smiling. 

"This is not solving anything."

"My apologies, Master. But I can't help it!"

"Oh, but you will. You will help it. You're going to be the one to fix this problem." 

"What?"

"Whether you are entirely responsible for your actions or not, Obi-Wan, you and the Queen's outrageous behaviors have created some serious damage to the negotiations with the miners, and I am holding you personally liable for resolving the issue."

Obi-Wan sat silently. His Master was letting him off pretty easily, but he had no idea how he was going to fix the situation with the mining representatives.

"In the meantime, you will keep a safe distance from Queen Amidala until such a time that you have learned to control your urges."

The older man rose and after grabbing his cloak, headed for the door.

"I will go speak to the Queen personally regarding my decision. I suggest that you meditate and practice the shielding techniques I have taught you."

"Yes, Master."

Qui-Gon palmed open the door, but turned back around before he left.

"And Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Let me make this perfectly clear. You are forbidden to leave this room until you have my permission to do so. Understood?"

The young man nodded meekly from where he still sat.

"Yes, Master."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

When Qui-Gon arrived in the council chambers where he was told Queen Amidala was being detained, he stopped just outside the partly-open doors and what he heard surprised him. The Queen of Naboo had earned her title through a majority vote of the people, and therefore, had not established a monarchy system of governing. However, the things her security captain and the governor were saying, seemed a bit harsh.

_"I have never witnessed a more blatant display of irresponsibility and impropriety in my life!" The elderly governor was saying. "If it were up to me, I would have you stripped of your title right now!"_

"Hold on, Sio." The more sympathetic Captain Panaka cut in. "I don't think that's necessary, but your majesty, you did perhaps ruin any chance of continuing negotiations with the miners."

"Not to mention the damage to your respectability within this council." Sio Bibble continued. "And with a Jedi Apprentice, nonetheless! Surely you could have picked a more worthy suitor…." 

At that point, Qui-Gon had heard enough. He wasn't going to stand silently by while they said things against his Padawan.

"Excuse me, but perhaps I can shed some light on the events that occurred this day."

The Jedi Master went on to explain how Obi-Wan's actions were the result of a libido that had been chemically suppressed for far too long, and was just now being released, and as an eighteen-year-old humanoid male, his reactions to the queen were not unexpected nor surprising. Under the circumstances.

"You may disregard your student's outrageous behavior with that excuse, Master Jinn." Bibble argued. "But it does not excuse the queen's."

"My guess is that her majesty is slightly Force sensitive, and has been….infected, so-to-speak with Obi-Wan's raging hormonal fluctuations. I, myself, have had to keep my mental shields tight in order not to be affected by them, and I'm a Master of the Force. You cannot expect your queen to be able to withstand such an onslaught of her senses."

"This is preposterous!" Bibble huffed from his council seat.

"I assure you, she didn't have a choice, but to react the way she did." At the look of the governor's continued indignation, Qui-Gon continued, gracefully gesturing back toward the door. "If you don't believe me, then perhaps you would like a demonstration."

"No. I assure you, one was enough."

"Your explanation is acceptable, Master Jedi." An older woman who sat next to the governor replied. "But it still does not mend the dire situation with the mining representatives."

Qui-Gon gazed at the woman who appeared to be about his age. Her dark hair was pulled back tight, but she had an attractive figure and an intelligent face. A tingling feeling settled along his lower spine and curled around to his groin before he cleared his throat, pulled his cloak and his shields tighter, purposefully withdrawing his gaze from her.

"My apprentice has been given the duty of repairing and continuing the negotiations, and I assure you he is quite capable of doing so. I have every confidence that Obi-Wan will be successful."

"But what is to keep another occurrence such as today's from happening again?"

"I have instructed my Padawan to resume the negotiations at the plant's location." Qui-Gon assured the governor and the rest of the Naboo Council. "He is forbidden to come anywhere near her highness."

Up to this point, Queen Amidala had sat upon her throne in silence, her countenance trite and respectful toward the elders, but at the Jedi's announcement, she stood up and jerked her chin forward in defiance.

"I'm afraid that is unacceptable."

"Your majesty." Qui-Gon addressed her with tenderness. "I'm afraid it's for your own good."

However, his words seemed to have the opposite affect he intended, as the young woman continued to stand, her head beginning to shake and a small grin appearing as a sign of her disapproval.

"You don't understand. You speak as if this 'infection' Obi-Wan has is some sort of virus that needs to be treated, and your recommendation for treatment is to ignore it and hope that it goes away. I assure you that it's not that simple." 

Qui-Gon waited for her explanation with a curious expression. His apprentice and the queen were both young and good-looking. It was no wonder they were sexually attracted to one another, but the addition of Obi-Wan's extreme hormonal response compounded the problem. Until Obi-Wan learned to control his libido, distancing himself from Padmé and practicing abstinence were the only answer.

Unless, of course, he had missed something.

"You see." The queen continued, her smile growing during her pause. "We're in love."

A deafening silence fell over the room as all eyes turned toward the queen, who appeared to be rather pleased with herself.

However, Qui-Gon's face matched the stunned council members seated about him, except maybe for one arched brow.

Well, the Jedi Master thought, that certainly complicated things.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Over the next three days, Obi-Wan worked with the mining corporation on the Naboo moon. The distance from Padmé helped him to maintain his focus and to use his highly trained negotiational skills so that without even the slightest Force suggestion, he had convinced the miners to proceed with production and come to terms with the sanctioned regulations imposed by the Naboo Resource Commission.

In the meantime, back at Theed, Qui-Gon had his hands full teaching the young Nabooan leader how to shield her thoughts and emotions, as well as guard herself against any attack on her senses, such as his Padawan's somewhat overwhelming physical presence. Even with Obi-Wan at a distance, Qui-Gon could feel the rampage of his Padawan's chemical imbalance. However, over the last couple of days, that feeling had lessened dramatically.

It gave the Jedi Master hope that Obi-Wan would be able to maintain control and finish his Jedi training. Unlike his last apprentice, who apparently chose the will of his heart over the will of his Master.

But he couldn't really blame Xanatos. Love is a power thing, and Qui-Gon was not one to argue against the workings of the Force. And it was obvious to him that the Force had a hand in this all along. Time and time again during this mission, even when Obi-Wan was caught up in passion, could the Jedi Master detect the Living Force beckoning to his Padawan --stronger than ever before.

It was a point he would have to make for his mission records, and one that should be brought before the council. As well as the fact that regardless of the somewhat catastrophic events that had occurred, their mission had been a success.

Obi-Wan had commed him just a few hours ago to inform him that the miners were ready to sign an agreement, and he was bringing back their representative this afternoon.

Qui-Gon met his Padawan in the palace hangar upon his arrival, wanting to speak with the young man privately before allowing him to the join the council and the queen. 

"You've done well, Obi-Wan. I have read your report of your meetings with the miners and am quite pleased with your progress. After the necessary documents are signed, I would say we are free to return to Coruscant."

Usually, whenever Qui-Gon informed his apprentice that their mission was complete and they could return to the Temple, Obi-Wan was happy, but at the Jedi Master's announcement, his apprentice frowned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, Master. Nothing of importance." The young man stated, but even an old Jedi Master knew better than that. 

"While you were off planet, I spent quite a bit of time with Padmé, teaching her some simple shielding techniques. I got to know her pretty well." Qui-Gon said with a smile as he began to stroll across the hangar floor, with Obi-Wan following next to him. "I like her." The older man admitted, eyeing his Padawan who grinned and then flushed slightly.

"I like her too, Master."

"Like? Is that all?" Qui-Gon exclaimed, to which Obi-Wan stopped in his tracks.

"What do you mean?" 

The older Jedi turned toward his apprentice, a playful smirk twisting up his mouth. "It's just that she's made it quite clear that her feelings for you run much deeper. In fact, she told me she loves you."

It took a moment for Qui-Gon's words to sink in, but when they finally did, Obi-Wan's grin widened to reveal a full set of white teeth.

"She did?"

"And not only me. In fact, she informed the entire Naboo Council." 

Qui-Gon began walking once more, noticing that it took a moment for his stunned Padawan to do the same. But by the time he had reached the hangar doors, Obi-Wan was once more by his side.

"But what happens now? Master! This just makes everything worse!" 

"Does it? I would think that would all depend upon your feelings for her."

As they walked, Qui-Gon could hear the young man's groan.

"Much…much worse!" Obi-Wan repeated in a voice that no longer carried happiness.

"Come now, Padawan. Being in love isn't the end of the Galaxy."

"But Master, you said we were leaving tomorrow! And what about the Jedi Council? What are they going to say about this?"

"Calm yourself, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said with a halt to his stride and a supportive hand upon his student's shoulder.

"But Master, you don't understand." Obi-Wan replied in a voice that was as close to a whine if Qui-Gon had ever heard one. "I contacted Garen and Reeft at the Temple a few days ago. Surely everyone by now knows about the tea and they've probably figured out that I'm the one who told them!"

Qui-Gon regarded his distraught apprentice with a solemn expression, but one without anger.

"We shall deal with that obstacle when we come to it. Live in the moment, Padawan. After the negotiations are complete, you are free to do as you wish. I believe the Queen is having dinner for two in her private quarters this evening." The older man added with a wink.

A slow, steady smile crept over the young man's face and suddenly the Jedi Master's arms were full of an exuberant and extremely relieved Padawan, as Obi-Wan thanked him, hugging his Master tight.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

The mining agreement was signed without a hitch, and Qui-Gon only sensed minor tension between his Padawan and the Queen; the two young people trading looks of longing and occasional knowing smiles. But their struggle went unnoticed by anyone else other than the Jedi Master, and soon, everyone was exchanging celebratory handshakes and retiring to the formal dining room for third meal.

Padmé, however, made a discrete exit, and moved down the hall, turning to shoot a hopeful glance toward Obi-Wan, who in turn, glanced at his Master. After receiving a smile and nod of approval, the young man darted away with the queen, stealing his arm around her waist as they made their way to her private suite.

Qui-Gon watched them go until the sound of someone's booted feet stepping up behind him drew his attention away. 

"Pardon me, Master Jinn." Captain Panaka said with a curt bow. "You have a live comm waiting from a Master Yoda at the Coruscant Temple. He says it's urgent."

Padmé nibbled at her food because she wasn't the least bit hungry. Not for nerf filet anyway. And especially not with Obi-Wan sitting just across the table from her. But she had to start practicing her newly-learned shielding techniques at some point, and now was as good a time as any.

"The soup is delicious." Obi-Wan said as he slurped from his spoon, but Padmé wouldn't know, she hadn't touched hers.

Soup was all that Obi-Wan felt he could hold in his stomach. His insides were in turmoil, his heart rate had tripled, and his palms were sweating. Either he was coming down with the Travorian flu he had picked up last season, or his shields were slipping.

He was trying not to be too hard on himself. It had been fifteen minutes, and he had yet to clear the table and throw Padmé on top of it, ravaging her instead of the meal -- even though that was exactly what he wanted to do.

Deep breaths, Kenobi. Remember your training, he encouraged himself silently.

But after swallowing the final spoonful of the appetizer, he knew he couldn't eat another bite. And Padmé obviously was feeling the same.

Their eyes met across the table and it was the young woman who finally broke as she abruptly grabbed the edges of the tablecloth and threatened to rid the space of any obstacle between herself and the man sitting across from her, but a firm grasp on her arms stilled her movements.

Faster than she had seen, Obi-Wan had moved from his chair and was standing over her.

"Focus. Maintain your focus. That's it. Breathe. Breathe. You can do this."

"I can do this." The young woman responded out of breath, but her focus was solely upon the pair of soft lips hovering above her, and the tingling shooting up her arms from where his hands held onto her. 

"Trust me, Padmé. It will be better for it. I don't want to just have mind-blowing sex with you. This time, I want to make love to you. Very slowly."

"Fine." The young woman whispered, breathing in deeply. "But I'm going to need your help. I'm not as strong as you."

"Yes you are."

The smile that appeared on the Jedi's face sent a shiver all the way down to her toes.

"I'm going to kiss you now." He said, and her heart almost stopped.

Ever so slowly, the young man leaned forward until his lips barely touched hers, and then he began sweeping his mouth back and forth across hers in a tortuous and tender caress, causing a whimper born of frustrated denial to escape Padmé's lips.

All right. Maybe that was too slow, Obi-Wan decided. They only had until morning.

Running his hands up her arms, Obi-Wan pulled Padmé up and away from the table, drawing her up against his chest, and crushing her lips in a feverish kiss, his tongue seeking entrance into the velvet heat of her mouth, groaning himself when she met his warm wet invader with her own. The kiss deepened, bodies pressing even more tightly together, until Obi-Wan became aware that at some point they had sunk to the floor and were mindlessly groping one another.

"Wait." He murmured between aggressive attacks on his mouth. "Stop, Padmé. Stop."

Eyes wild with desire, the young woman looked startled as Obi-Wan broke free of her kiss, but he quickly soothed her with a sweeping caress across her cheek, running his fingers into her hair. "Focus, darling. Breathe." 

Padmé tried to do as he said, but gods, this was difficult! She wanted him inside her so badly. It was the only way to rid herself of the gnawing ache and the burning sensation in her belly, but she trusted him.

She breathed deeply again and allowed herself to be drawn up from the floor and led to the adjoining room, all the while unable to take her eyes off his face. 

It was obvious to Obi-Wan at this point that he was going to have to be the one to maintain control. As he should be. He was trained in the Force after all. Surely, he could do this.

But as he began to undo the lacing on the front of Padmé's dressing gown and the creamy flesh of her breasts were revealed to his touch and gaze, he began to wonder.

He recited the new mantra his Master had taught him for this occasion and tried again, pushing the silky fabric off her shoulders and down to her waist, dragging his mouth down from her neck until he could bring a puckered nipple into his mouth.

Obi-Wan could feel her limbs trembling and so, the young Jedi scooped his lover up in his arms and twisted to lay her down on the bed, tugging the gown easily off the lower half of her body.

Fingertips lightly traced up her silky, smooth legs, playing in the dark curls at the apex of her thighs as they passed, and dipped inside her navel while the queen lay gasping, her back arched and her eyes squeezed shut.

Obi-Wan nearly laughed aloud at the sight. She looked like she was about to have a seizure or something. This wouldn't do at all.

Quickly disrobing, he lay back down next to her on the bed and gently caressed the valley between Padmé's breasts.

"Look at me." Obi-Wan implored.

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"If I do, I don't think I can control myself."

"Then don't." Obi-Wan suggested. "Let go Padmé. But just a little at a time. Look into my eyes. Let me be your anchor. Just hold onto me."

Dark brown orbs fluttered open to meet with a beautiful sea-green gaze hovering above her, and the young woman grasped onto the confident strength that she saw there.

When Obi-Wan positioned himself above her, Padmé held onto that contact, desperately grasping onto him both physically and mentally.

And when she felt his cock move inside her, the burn began once again, only this time it was a radiant heat that warmed her body from where they were joined to the tips of her fingers and toes, instead of a fury of flame that threatened to consume her.

They rocked slowly and gently together, stealing kisses in between, building the fire slowly.

However, with each thrust, the flames gained intensity until Obi-Wan finally gave into its demands and arched into Padmé's body more forcefully, pushing a gasp followed by a frantic sigh from her lips, but still he held her gaze and kept her anchored.

When the heat became unbearable and her moans became whimpered pleas, Obi-Wan released his tenuous hold on his weakened shields, urging Padmé to do the same.

"Let go darling." He prompted, and immediately he was hit with a surge of emotions that doubled his own and brought tears to his eyes.

With strong legs held high over his back adding momentum to his thrusts, Obi-Wan rode through the fire, crying out when he erupted inside her, hearing Padmé's own muffled cry somewhere in the distance.

When he came to, Obi-Wan was lying half on top of Padmé, one breast cradled in his hand, and the other near his mouth. He reached out with his tongue to suckle the nipple before pulling himself up to the young woman's mouth, drawing the kiss out as long as breath allowed.

When he withdrew and propped his head upon his hand to gaze down at her, he noticed a grin upon Padmé's face.

"Well?" The young man asked with a mischeivous smirk that hinted at smugness.

"Okay. It was worth it." She admitted with a pinch to his ass before turning serious. "But I have to wonder. Will there ever be a day when we can make love and not have to use these damn shields?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan answered after a moment and in between suckles of her ear lobe. "I hope so. Many, many, years from now."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Qui-Gon entered the mostly deserted palace communications station and saw the anxiously waiting holographic image of Master Yoda, noting the rare display of stress upon the Jedi's features. Before he accept the transmission though, he turned to Panaka and another technician present.

"I would like some privacy please, if that's possible."

"Of course." Panaka answered, ushering the young man from the room before Qui-Gon accepted the communication.

"Master Yoda. It's good to see you."

"Time for pleasantries, we have not." Yoda barked back in reply. "A serious situation we have."

"Has there been a terrorist threat made?" Qui-Gon exclaimed in mock alarm.

"No."

"Is the Temple in danger? Yourself or another council member?" 

"No. Worse than that." Yoda croaked in reply. "Something that affects the entire Order this is! And the fault in its entirety, on your Padawan does it lie!" A blue holographic claw stabbed toward Qui-Gon.

"Master Yoda! What are you talking about?"

Playing blissfully ignorant often worked for Qui-Gon when dealing with the ancient council member, but suddenly Mace Windu stepped into the transmission, and the rules abruptly changed.

"This is serious, Qui-Gon. I'm afraid the Jedi Council is demanding your Padawan's braid. Obi-Wan will be transferred to AgriCorps upon your return to Coruscant."

"On what grounds?" The Jedi Master exclaimed, nearly coming out of his seat.

"Informed the Padawans at the Temple about the tea, he did."

"Is that all?" Master Jinn asked, much more relaxed.

"Qui-Gon, the entire Temple is in an uproar! There are Padawans sleeping with other Padawans! Jedi sneaking out to the pleasure establishments in the Lower Levels! It's utter chaos!"

Qui-Gon struggled to keep a straight face, but his curiosity got the best of him. "What happened to the tea?"

"Put it into the Temple sewage system, they did."

Obi-Wan's Master lost his battle and bent his head to hide his wide grin. "That should take care of the Temple's rodent population for a while." He said when he raised back up, but his joke fell flat. Neither of the Masters on the other end were smiling.

"How can you be taking this so lightly?" Mace declared in disbelief. "Did I not make myself clear before? Your Padawan is not going to be a Jedi!" 

"Certainly, he will." Qui-Gon answered as he leaned back, crossing his arms. "Because he's not the one who contacted Padawan Muln and Reeft about the tea. I was."

The Jedi Master could have sworn he saw a flash of disappointment cross Windu's face, but he wasn't sure.

"Then your responsibility this is." Yoda replied more quietly. "Return to the Temple to help re-establish order, you should."

Qui-Gon turned his attention away from the holographic display to note a ravishing female standing in the doorway of the comm station. It was the same council member that had caught his eye before, however, her long dark hair was now flowing softly over her tanned, bare shoulders, and she wore a simple, but rather revealing gown that tied about her neck. The look she was casting him left little doubt as to her intentions, and in response, the Jedi Master disabled the visual option of the communication.

After assuring the Coruscant Jedi that the transmission was still active, Qui-Gon listened to his comrades bicker and complain about the chaos that had eruped in the Temple because of what he had done, but his attention was focused upon the intoxicating woman who had straddled his lap and had loosened his long hair, running her fingernails along his scalp. 

But when Yoda demanded his and Obi-Wan's immediate return, Qui-Gon pulled his lips away from the smooth skin of his new lover's neck and responded.

"No. I think we shall stay on Naboo for a while." He replied. "From what I understand, if there is a mess in the Temple, it's of the Council's creation, and they should be the one's to clean it up. Obi-Wan and I have some leave coming, and we're taking it now."

"That's not an option, Qui-Gon." Mace argued, although he knew his friend, as always, would do what he wanted.

However, Qui-Gon was losing his focus on the conversation as the Naboo council member reached down and freed his erection, fondling its rapidly-growing length. 

With just the slightest hesitation, the Jedi Master reached out to cut the transmission, smiling at the double meaning of his final words. "Jinn, out."

-End- 


End file.
